About the artist
"He who has a why to live can bear almost any how."— Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil (1886)
Marlena Owczarek (b. 1998, Poland; based in Belgium) is a multidisciplinary artist working across photography, installation, drawing, and jewellery. Her practice explores fragility, transformation, and emotional states through material play and symbolic form. Guided by intuition and a deep curiosity about the connection between mind and body, she transforms personal experience into shared reflection.
Drawn to the intangible aspects of existence, Marlena seeks to materialize the unseen forces that shape reality. Her fascination with physical and conceptual transformation drives her to transmute energy, shifting it from one state to another.
Memory plays a central role in her work, as she investigates how we navigate the landscapes of our minds and construct our sense of reality. Through reflection, dreaming, and presence, she engages with the fluidity of time, reshaping its perception through her pieces. Her practice inhabits the space between the known and the unknown, where subconscious imagery takes form and intuition finds its voice. Embracing the unknown, she often integrates "flaws" and accidents into her creative process, allowing spontaneity to guide her. Her work remains deeply personal, weaving mental and emotional states, life lessons, and lived experience into the fabric of her creations.
In addition to her personal artistic practice, Marlena is also involved in jewellery design and writing. She collaborates with musicians, including Porcelain Id, for whom she filmed the music video for Rhythm Machine and assisted in the shooting of Moon. Furthermore, her artwork will be featured as the cover for the upcoming album by musician Maéra/Professor Trelawney.
Artist Statement
I don’t exist at all, in any time or space. This drives me to look for reminders of pure existence. Existing surroundings in the now live their life, and form the future. In particular it is the present that intrests me, the marks of the past are prominently displayed, and the future is still unknown. Photography captures one moment that with every second becomes more distant. The dialogue between new and old technology in photography are the pillars of my work. It’s all based in my interest for growth and reviewing past mistakes to create a better future. My craving for controle over the moment stops, when I capture the moment, for the camera does the rest.
My photographs depict how I react to my surroundings. Analogue photography became a meditative way to cope with reality, creating a discourse between me and the real world. Not necessarily in the scientific realm but more on a level where I focus on myself and my perception of reality.
The use of transparencies stems from my lust for the illusion of translucent being. A pure existence that only lives as an expectation in our minds. Something that escapes all the vileness of the real (physical) world, a craving for something greater than what we are.
Curriculum Vitae
→ Artistieke Opleiding (Art Studies) // De!Kunsthumaniora, Antwerpen — 2013-2017
→ FD Fine Arts // University for the Creative Arts, Epsom — 2017-2018
→ BA Photography (Incomplete) // Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerpen — 2018-2019
→ BA Studio Project // Sint Lucas School of Arts, Antwerpen — 2019-2023
→ Stained Glass Art // Academie Antwerpen, Antwerpen — 2020-2021
→ MA Autonomous Context // Sint Lucas School of Arts, Antwerpen — 2023-2024
→ Professional Goldsmith and Jewelry Design Course // Syntra PXL, Bokrijk — 2024-2025
→ Glass Art // Academie Berchem, Antwerpen — 2024-ongoing
→ Artistieke Opleiding (Art Studies) // De!Kunsthumaniora, Antwerpen — 2013-2017
→ FD Fine Arts // University for the Creative Arts, Epsom — 2017-2018
→ BA Photography (Incomplete) // Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerpen — 2018-2019
→ BA Studio Project // Sint Lucas School of Arts, Antwerpen — 2019-2023
→ Stained Glass Art // Academie Antwerpen, Antwerpen — 2020-2021
→ MA Autonomous Context // Sint Lucas School of Arts, Antwerpen — 2023-2024
→ Professional Goldsmith and Jewelry Design Course // Syntra PXL, Bokrijk — 2024-2025
→ Glass Art // Academie Berchem, Antwerpen — 2024-ongoing