Maciej Zatorski invited me to create an illustration for Displate’s marketplace with complete creative freedom, so I decided to work on it during three art residencies: R.A.R.O. Buenos Aires (Argentina), R.A.R.O. Barcelona (Spain), and Phoenix Gallery Athens (Greece). That entire journey marked one of the most profound spiritual transformations of my life. I found myself desperately lonely, and I began engaging with others in a totally different way. In the process, dance became a vital lifeline for the emotional pain of this transformation. I even danced on the streets, knowing no one knew me, and physically felt the judgment of strangers for simply doing something that felt good and was healthy for me, merely for being different from those walking by. Following this process, I worked the conceptualization of this illustration in this way:
What are we before judgment, and what kind of fears does judgment create in our openness to the world, to others, and to our own desires?
This creation reflects this core question. It is an exploration of personal freedom experienced while traveling, embracing the uncertainty of living in different countries and cultures, reading philosophy, writing, and most significantly: dancing, being sincere with my body and its sensations with the music, and being true about where and with whom I feel most free.
Ultimately, this work is about discovering what is already authentic, exotic, and free within oneself, defining the personal boundaries one sets with others to protect and respect one's own value, and determining the courage needed to move beyond judgment and simply be. That process has a cost for one’s ego, but through that sensitive rebellion for freedom, one begins to feel new, healthy, and challenging sensations of being true to oneself.
Client: Displate
Creative advisors: Maciej Zatorski and Cezary Neugebauer
Project advisors from residencies: Lukas Rimsky, Lina Ángel, Alfio Demestre and Dimitri Yin