Beyond The Gaze (diploma exhibition, Die Angewandte, Vienna, 2025)
The act of collecting, especially in the context of early photographic portraits, and its effects on personal practice are explored deeply. The work goes beyond the visual to examine the psychological dimensions of collecting, as well as the concepts of perception, reality, observation, and seeing. Photographing someone is not just capturing an image, but reflecting one’s subjectivity, desires, and unconscious mind, in line with Lacan’s mirror stage. Our perceptions are shaped by our inner world, and in portraits, unconscious fragments of the photographer’s psyche emerge as they recognize themselves in the subjects.
In "Beyond the Gaze", the process unfolds dynamically: newly created portraits intuitively draw upon collected historical photographs. A selection of these is reexamined, altered, and re-framed through the lens. Poses and gazes, deeply internalized, emerge naturally, without conscious intention. These layers interweave, creating a seamless connection between past and present. The stillness in the images resonates with Henri Bergson’s concept of time as an uninterrupted flow—subjective and immeasurable. Faces separated by more than a century meet in silent kinship, creating a dialogue between the visible and the unspeakable. The ephemerality of the moment captured by photography points to what remains hidden. This work becomes a journey of self-exploration, moving through the faces and stories of others, while holding a mirror to one’s inner experience.
"The photograph of the vanished being touches me like the light of a star. A kind of umbilical cord connects the body of the photographed subject with my gaze: the light is here, though intangible, yet a physical medium, a skin that I share with this or that person who has once been photographed.” — Susan Sontag
Überrest (2022)
Molting animals take off their ‘skin chemise’ and leave behind a remnant of their exoskeleton. Personal associations with this phenomenon in nature served as the basis for the creation of the presented sculpture in space.
The fragile shell expresses the absence of an anthropomorphic body. As a witness of its remaining presence, the detached layer acquires independence in space and aims to evoke a sublime experience. Characterised as sovereign and supportive, the shape is yet retaining its vulnerability despite the strength.
The video work, brought to life in collaboration with sound designer JP Oliver Viol a.k.a. Akali Akali, enables the object to transcend from one state to another. Suggested by sound and light, the work draws on the theme of resurrection.
In Christian religion body remains of saints are venerated as objects. ‘Überrest’ enters into relation with this transformation.
The used material is the omentum of a lamb, a fatty tissue which is often considered waste in slaughterhouse. Re-contextualizing it and alluding to the immortality of objects, the organic matter cites the ‘Agnus Dei’.
Music & Sound Design by Akali Akali
Written by Jean Philipp Oliver Viol
Courtesy of BRU BRU BRU BRU Media
Concept, Artwork & Video by Olesya Parfenyuk
Rebirth (2020)
Recognition of Guilt (2020)