Agnieszka Sejud (PL)

ARTIST STATEMENT

AGNIESZKA SEJUD is a visual artist, activist and member of the artistic duo KWAS together with Karolina Wojtas. Sejud uses various media to explore different aspects of human identity, the idea of individual freedom, and systems of oppression constraining people’s independence. The artist’s practice includes photography, digital and analogue collage, books and zines, videoart and installations. Her vision of the world is vivid, kaleidoscopic and psychedelic. Sejud often employs deformations and deconstruction of imagery to illustrate her purposes and ideas. Her works have been exhibited internationally.

She graduated from the Institute of Creative Photography at the Silesian University in Opava, Czech Republic, and earlier, from the Faculty of Law, Administration and Economics of the University of Wrocław and .

CV

AWARDS

2021 Photographic Publication of the Year, winner (HOAX)
2020 New East Photo Prize, shortlist
2020 Paris Photo-Aperture Foundation Photobook award, shortlist (HOAX)

2020 Kassel Dummy Award, shortlist (HOAX)
2019 TIFF Open, winner
2019 Photographic Publication of the Year, shortlist (KWAS issue KWAS)

EXHIBITIONS

SOLO SHOWS

+ Poland
2022 Festiwal W Ramach Sopotu, Sopot
2021 TIFF Festival
2020 RDK, Warsaw
2020 HOAX . Internet exhibition
2019 Galeria u Agatki, Wrocław
2019 TIFF Open, BWA Awangarda Wrocław
2019 Contemporary Museum Wrocław

GROUP SHOWS

+ France
2022 Festival Circulation(s), Paris
2020 Paris Photo-Aperture Foundation Photobook Award, New York, Paris

+ Germany
2022 Triennial of Photography, Hamburg
2020/2021 Kassel Dummy Award Exhibition Tour (Zagreb, AArhus, Prague, Istanbul, Dublin, Angkor, Singapore, Melbourne, Cluj-Napoca, Rome, Wopswede)
2020 EEP Berlin x POSTWEST Festival, Berlin

+ Greece
2019 Athens Photo Festival, Athens

+ Latvia
2019 Zalenieki

+ Lithuania
2020 Kaunas Art Book Fair

+ Poland
2022 Zachęta - National Art Gallery, Warsaw
2022 Galeria Raster, Warsaw
2021 Kraków Photomonth
2021 Galeria Centrala, Poznań
2020 Kraków Photomonth
2020 Futures Talent, Fotofestiwal Łódź
2019 Galeria MD_S, Wrocław
2019 Galeria Labirynt, Lublin
2019 Paperlust Photobook Fest, Kraków

+ Spain
2020 Getxophoto, Getxo

+ Ukraine
2021 Odesa Photo Days

WORK

mimesis (II) (2021-)

It's really nice to get out of your way with fear to the other side, to listen to your advice, my heart rejoices when you explain the world to me again.I'm just a candy you can drool over.It's nice that you accost me at night, you follow me, sometimes you grab me, push me, hit me.It's really nice when you look at me for so long or comment on my appearance, those compliments I have never heard before.It's great that no one takes my opinion seriously, it's great that they are in charge of me, and I can then take care of the washing up, painting the nails, polishing the floor, and the children's meal.How wonderful to be silenced so that your voice finally gets stuck in your throat permanently and you never use it in public, there's no need to, they'll do better.You're not serious.The best are the nice, obedient, silent ones, such that they take up as little space as possible, but look nice.

HOAX (2016 - 2020)

HOAX is a story of self-delusion, one we are all a witness to. This is a country where European political standards are considered radical. The mere idea of a separation of church and state creates unrest and turmoil. The Catholic church is a privileged institution – it does not pay taxes, has widespread influence and considerable wealth. This is a country where 87% of the population are baptized Catholics but their faith is rather selective and syncretic – contrary to Christian teachings, some believe in reincarnation and destiny. Here, a million people line up to pray the rosary together and members of the clergy look like they have committed all seven deadly sins.

I Want to Be a Priest Like My Father (2020)

A small post scriptum for the HOAX project. A series of collages with the Vatican hierarchs. Is the Vatican the seat of a spiritual institution or is it just the oldest corporation in the world? Sinecure, great clothes, spacious apartments. Gold. Authority. Lovers. For over two thousand years, the Church has been preaching a very beautiful teaching of love for one's neighbor, and at the same time hides criminals in its ranks. Rather, it is not about the good. Unless the priests' good. Covering up offenses by transferring from parish to parish, lies, hypocrisy, silence. People were killed in the name of faith. The church is a brake on social changes, including the equality of women, it is an opponent of contraception and marital equality. It aims to maintain a comfortable status quo. Under the Polish Pope, the church contributed to the spread of the AIDS epidemic in Africa. Can we still believe in the good intentions of this company?

mimesis (2018-2020)

'Mimesis' was inspired by a biological phenomenon and personal experiences. In the animal world, camouflage can be achieved by different methods, such as by assuming colors and patterns which resemble the background. Mimesis means that the camouflaged object looks like something else which is of no special interest to the observer. It is common in prey animals, for example when a peppered moth caterpillar mimics a twig, or a grasshopper mimics a dry leaf. Camouflage could be used by prey to avoid being detected by a predator or by the predator to avoid scaring off their prey. Mimesis is also widely used in the military. Using a camouflage is an effective way to stay hidden and unnoticed, thus feeling safe.

blue room (2019)

blue room is a shelter, a safe space from an ongoing catastrophe. the world, we have been building for so many years, is falling into pieces in front of us, despite of the ending(s) happening in the past and happening on a daily basis. the political and ecological crisis is already here, within the frames of what a few call home. the earth is on fire.the ice is melting. plastic particles are infinite: they fall with the snow, they are present in your body, as well as in mine. the big fish are playing their political games; conflicts are bursting in higher flames, even though our bubble is still very much safe, if we neglect ships in the meditarenean sea sinking more or less twenty-five hundred kilometers away.the blue room is a shelter. a corner where, for a second, you can embrace the feeling of safety. a place where time flies slower. the blue will rescue you.

[site-specific installation]