Marcin Owczarek
In Search of Arcadia II, mixed media photography on aluminum, 26″ x 39″, 2020
In Search of Utopia, mixed media photography on aluminum, 26″ x 39″, 2019
The Golden Age, mixed media photography on aluminum, 26″ x 39″, 2020
One Minute to Midnight, mixed media photography on aluminum, 26″ x 39″, 2021
Paradise Lost II, mixed media photography on aluminum, 26″ x 39″, 2020
Shelter, mixed media photography on aluminum, 26″ x 39″, 2020
Time to Hear Our Voices, mixed media photography on aluminum, 26″ x 39″, 2020
The Last Bus to Paradise, mixed media photography on aluminum, 26″ x 39″, 2021
Editor’s Note: Each of Marcin Owczarek’s works is produced in an edition of 10, plus 2 Artist Proofs. In addition, each work is available in a second size, 40″ x 60″.
Artist Statement
My art is dedicated to exploring relationships among humans, animals, and nature. I focus on animal rights, wildlife conservation, climate change, and the condition of our fragile planet.
I attempt in my works to create a strong impact—visually, mentally, and emotionally. To observe. To document. As a result, to show the current condition so that we become more aware of the various dangers facing wildlife, human beings, and the future of the world. We are all connected—people, animals, nature—as one living organism.
I express my work in a surreal “language,” because I want to set up a clash between rationality and irrationality to find life’s deeper meanings. I create poetic and philosophical works so that viewers might interpret my art according to their own life experiences. I tell stories about the best and the worst aspects of human existence. There are always many stories behind each work. Viewers can explore as many meanings as their human or spiritual eye might perceive.
Using various symbols, allusions, metaphors, and allegories so that my art can be interpreted on many levels, I provide within the large image many smaller images with subtle meanings. Viewers can open as many “doors” to these meanings as they want, and thus interpret my collages in a different way day after day. The possibilities are endless.
To tell the truth, I believe that by creating art that addresses serious subjects and transmits serious meanings, I have the power and influence to force reflections about ourselves and our planet, to point attention to significant problems facing the world currently. For example, my work “In Search of Utopia” refers to the creation of a better world, “home”, and respect for all living creatures.
No doubt, the world today faces serious problems, such as plastic pollution, climate change, and animal extinction. How we resolve each is in our hands. Will we continue to regard and treat our planet as a place to use and exploit, or do we prefer to search for and by our actions build “Utopia”? The world is filled with enough wisdom, respect, responsiveness, loyalty, and trust that we and future generations can find solutions to our problems.
Is “Utopia” only a beautiful word, a dream place? If we start exercising our humanity and searching for that physical and spiritual place we call “Utopia,” can the beautiful dream one day become a reality?
About the Artist
Marcin Owczarek, born in Poland in October 1985, began studying photography at age 20 at The College of Photography in Wroclaw. He graduated with an honorable mention for his cycle “Brave New World,” which presented an idiosyncratic vision of the future.
Fascinated by the influence of new technologies on humans, particularly within urban spaces, Marcin Owczarek focuses on issues of mechanization and standardization, tackling them in anti-Utopian style. In his mystical collages, he uses the threat to the animal world to draw attention to the ongoing destruction of our habitat. At the same time, he uses animals as metaphors, endowing them with humans’ characteristics and virtues, thereby making it possible for viewers of his art to reflect on themselves and their actions against a background presenting humanity with enormous challenges, such as climate change and environmental destruction.
At the beginning of his artistic career, Marcin Owczarek created traditional collages on paper. Now he works exclusively on his computer, as digital collage offers him many more opportunities to articulate his thought processes and perceptions and allows him to connect complex elements and reflections, shaping them into a coherent universe of imagery. His art consists of photography, painting, and traditional collage elements, which he combines using Photoshop.
Marcin Owczarek’s works are exhibited permanently and can be seen at Angela King Gallery in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Currently, Marcin Owczarek lives and works in Belgium.
Marcin Owczarek’s Essay ‘In Search of Utopia’
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