Born 1985 in Warsaw, Poland. Lives and works in London, Great Britain, and Warsaw, Poland. Studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Krakow, and the Royal College of Art, London

Joanna Piotrowska, one of the leading voices in contemporary Polish photography, stages psychologically charged images in her black-and-white photographs and videos, in which participants physically explore familial power dynamics and protective rituals through improvised „fortresses“ or self-defense gestures. Through her staged settings, spare set design, and a documentary sensibility, she explores the boundaries between performative play and everyday reality.

For INSIGHTS, the artist returned to her hometown of Warsaw in 2017 to extend her long-running series titled „Shelter“. The series, inspired by a popular children’s game –constructing a tent-like retreat from blankets, mattresses, furniture, and sheets within one’s own home – illustrates the basic human need to create a personal space and furnish it according to individual ideas. At the same time, Piotrowska implicitly poses the question: Do the homes in which we live not offer enough protection? In this series, Joanna Piotrowska portrays people in their own hideouts. The result is a double portrait of sorts: a portrait of the person and a portrait of the self-built shelter. The choice of materials and the arrangement of the objects provide intimate insights into each subject's personality.

www.joannapiotrowska.com