Katerina Kouzmitcheva : Oprosti za pomanjkanje stika / Sorry for the Lack of Contact

Otvoritev: sreda, 24. junija 2026, ob 19. uri.

Projekt Oprosti za pomanjkanje stika / Sorry for the Lack of Contact (2024 – v nastajanju) poljske fotografinje Katerina Kouzmitcheva je predstavljen kot večplastna fotografska pripoved o odtujenosti in čustveni utrujenosti v intimnih odnosih. Kouzmitcheva, ki deluje na presečišču dokumentarne in umetniške fotografije, oblikuje vizualni jezik, v katerem sta življenjska izkušnja in konstruirana podoba neločljivo prepleteni. Njena praksa odseva razmišljanje o tem, kako materialne in nematerialne meje, prostorske, politične in psihološke, oblikujejo načine, na katere se posamezniki gibljejo skozi okolja, odnose in notranja stanja, hkrati pa tudi, kako ti vplivajo na kolektivne načine razumevanja in čutenja. V tej seriji osebna pripoved postane vstopna točka v širše pogoje sodobnega življenja, kjer bližina in oddaljenost ter prisotnost in odmik pogosto sobivajo v istem trenutku. Delo nadaljuje njeno dosedanje umetniško ukvarjanje s temami spomina, spola in identitete, hkrati pa opozarja na bolj intimne registre izkušenj. Raziskuje ranljivost, ženskost in občutja izgube ter prehaja med poljem osebnega in političnega, ne da bi ju ločevala.

Podobe v seriji so nastale iz stanja čustvene nestabilnosti, povezane z izkušnjo partnerske ločitve, razpadom odnosov in pritiski ohranjanja povezave v razdrobljenih in prekomerno stimuliranih okoljih sodobnega časa. Hkrati odsevajo občutek, kako komunikacija v takšnih razmerah postane negotova, tišina pa pridobi enako težo kot govor. Analogne nepopolnosti, ki jih najdemo na več fotografijah, na primer zamegljenost, svetlobni preboji in praske – ne delujejo kot estetski dodatki, temveč kot elementi pripovedi, ki odsevajo omenjene čustvene razpoke. Neposredni pogledi, umaknjene figure in samorefleksivne kompozicije dodatno izražajo notranja stanja in napetosti. Oprosti za pomanjkanje stika / Sorry for the Lack of Contact na koncu intimnost predstavi kot nekaj nestabilnega – kot proces, ki ga oblikujejo spomin ter spreminjajoči se formati odnosov, kar je izraženo skozi značilen fotografski jezik umetnice.

Katerina Kouzmitcheva (1981, Belorusija) je poljska fotografinja beloruskega porekla, ki živi v Vroclavu na Poljskem. Deluje na stičišču dokumentarne in umetniške fotografije ter raziskuje vidne in nevidne meje – geografske, ideološke in psihološke –, ki oblikujejo posamezna življenja in kolektivna stališča. Njeno delo se osredotoča na migracije, sisteme nadzora, spomin, spol in identiteto, hkrati pa se obrača tudi navznoter – k ranljivosti, ženskosti in izkušnji izgube –, pri čemer prehaja med osebnim in političnim. Diplomirala je iz gospodarskega prava, kasneje pa študirala je na Akademiji za dokumentarno in umetniško fotografijo Fotografika v Sankt Peterburgu ter magistrirala in doktorirala iz likovnih umetnosti na Akademiji Eugeniusza Gepperta v Vroclavu. Trenutno nadaljuje študij na Inštitutu za kreativno fotografijo v Opavi na Češkem.

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The project Sorry for the Lack of Contact (2024 – ongoing) by Polish photographer Katerina Kouzmitcheva is presented as a multilayered photographic narrative about alienation and emotional exhaustion within intimate relationships. Working at the intersection of documentary and artistic photography, Kouzmitcheva develops a visual language in which lived experience and constructed imagery are inseparably intertwined. Her practice reflects on how material and immaterial boundaries, spatial, political, and psychological, shape the ways individuals move through environments, relationships, and inner states, while also influencing collective modes of understanding and feeling. In this series, the personal narrative becomes an entry point into the broader conditions of contemporary life, where closeness and distance, as well as presence and withdrawal, often coexist within the same moment. The work continues her ongoing artistic engagement with themes of memory, gender, and identity, while at the same time drawing attention to more intimate registers of experience. It explores vulnerability, femininity, and feelings of loss, moving between the personal and the political without separating the two.

The images in the series emerged from a state of emotional instability connected to the experience of separation, the breakdown of relationships, and the pressures of maintaining connection within the fragmented and overstimulated environments of contemporary life. At the same time, they reflect the feeling that communication in such circumstances becomes uncertain, while silence acquires the same weight as speech. The analog imperfections visible in many of the photographs, such as blurriness, light leaks, and scratches, do not function as aesthetic additions, but rather as narrative elements reflecting these emotional fractures. Direct gazes, withdrawn figures, and self-reflexive compositions further convey inner states and tensions. Ultimately, Sorry for the Lack of Contact presents intimacy as something unstable, as a process shaped by memory and shifting forms of relationships, articulated through the artist’s distinctive photographic language.

Katerina Kouzmitcheva (1981, Belarus) is a Polish photographer of Belarusian origin based in Wrocław, Poland. Working at the intersection of documentary and art photography, she explores visible and invisible boundaries, geographical, ideological, psychological, shaping lives and collective attitudes. Her practice addresses migration, systems of control, memory, gender, identity, while also engaging vulnerability, femininity, and loss. She holds a BA in Business Law, then later studied at Fotografika in Saint Petersburg, and earned MFA and PhD in Fine Arts from Eugeniusz Geppert Academy in Wrocław. She is studying at the Institute of Creative Photography in Opava.