INTERVIEW WITH KATARZYNA PERLAK: "ART ALLOWS YOU TO MOVE FORWARD"
What remains vivid in my memory from the pandemic is the experience of forgetting how to speak. Literally, but also figuratively, given that my love language is physical touch. There's an abundance of articles and scientific papers discussing changes in intimacy during the pandemic, which need to be consumed responsibly due to their highly triggering nature.
During this challenging time - as well as before and since - art acted as one of my tools for moving forward. Recently, I had the privilege of speaking with Katarzyna Perlak, a London-based artist from Poland, who recognises this as just one of its potentials. In her diverse artistic practice spanning video, performance, textiles, sculpture, and installation, Perlak seamlessly weaves together personal and political.
Her works, such as Broken Hearts Hotel (2021), not only address the challenges of intimacy during the pandemic but also extend beyond it, prompting broader reflections on human relationships and resonating with the writer Sophie K Rosa's assertion in Radical Intimacy that “to remake the world, we must pay attention to connection, care, and community as sites of struggle. Doing so could bring us closer — to ourselves and to each other — in ways that fuel our struggles towards revolutionary horizons.”
Read on FETCH London