I came to photography from a literary background. Literature has informed my practice and allowed me to look closer at the relationship between written and visual expression, and ways of articulating emotions as well as constructing narratives. I use prose or poetry as a basis for creating multi-layered visual stories through which I explore the ideas of home, identity, social exclusion as well as the poetics of endurance and existence.
I also carry out an emotive interrogation of my Polish heritage. In particular, I focus on the ramifications of war, the long lasting effects of the destruction of the Jewish communities and mass migration. Following on Dorothea Lange’s conviction that no country has ever closely scrutinized itself visually, I excavate backyards in Poland, preserving stories of those who have been silenced. In Britain, which became my home fifteen years ago, I turn my camera on fellow migrants, social dynamics of assimilation and exclusion, reflecting on how much the notion of a foreigner has changed in the last decade.
Exhibitions:
May-June 2019: Cornerstone Arts Centre, Didcot ('Woodland Open Exhibition', group show)
February 2019: Andrew Wiles Building, University of Oxford ('Urban Geometry' joint exhibition with Magda Wolna)
December 2018: The Fairway Gallery, OUP, Oxford ('In Solitude', solo exhibition)
October - November 2018: Andrew Wiles Building, University of Oxford ('By the Window', group exhibition with Oxford Photographic Society)
June 2018: Bartholomew's Room, Eynsham ('Crossing Borders. To Calais and Back, solo exhibition)
May 2018: Oxfordshire Art Weeks ('Surprise!' group exhibition)
April 2018: I Liceum, Gdynia, Poland ('Chacun est libre d'être libre' competition winner)
March - April 2018: North Wall Arts Centre ('In Solitude', group exhibition with Oxford Photographic Society)
March - April 2018: French Faculty, University of Gdansk, Poland ('Chacun est libre d'être libre' competition winner)
March 2017: University of Essex, Colchester ('Sophie in Her Own Words,' solo exhibition)
January - March 2017: Museum of Natural History, Oxford ('Aura', group exhibition with Oxford Photographic Society)
November 2017: the Barn Gallery, Oxford (Photox group exhibition)
October 2016: Wandsworth Town Library, London ('Sophie in Her Own Words', solo exhibition)
June 2016: Fairway Gallery, Oxford University Press ('Sophie in Her Own Words', solo exhibition)
March 2016: Bucks County Museum, Aylesbury ('Haunted by Words', competition winners)