What is your specialty, what makes your work unique? Or place your artist's statement.

In spatial installations Monika Nowak is unfolding stories inspired by dramatic, real life events. Instead of presenting a narrative, however, Nowak creates a setting; freezing the moment in time between what has already happened and what might still occur. It is a timeless fragment clearly part of a story, but without revealing its entirety. This leaves the spectator to stumble upon mysterious clues, laden with suspense, that could help putting what really happened together piece by piece.
While Nowak’s work refers to real life situations with a dark or dramatic undertone, it tends to appear lighthearted and comical. By using colour blocking, absurdist compositions, and by playing with the scale of objects in the space, reality becomes distorted by the artificiality of the installation. Most of Nowak’s works also include interventions in which a performer interacts with the space. As with the installations themselves, these interactions are not (re)enactments of parts of the story, but add a sense of mystery and suspense while further deepening the theatricality of Nowak’s work.

Text by Menno Vuister

What are your ambitions? What do you want to be in five years?

I read this question and I remember my dad saying :” Hopefully not ending up on the street, sucking penises”. You would think that this is a joke, but I can assure you- my father is a very sober man. As for myself, I do not want to fulfill his rough predictions, and I would rather continue on developing my art practice. Through new experiences and opportunities of working with other artists and institutions I would like to grow my own artistic signature. I would gladly combine my autonomous practice with different fields of art like product design, video making, scenography/ stage design and installation - not only visualizing my own ideas but also working in collaborations.

What is the most important thing you have learned during your studies?

Since I was a teen, I could draw pretty well. Cats, hamsters, possums- whatever you like, neatly framed, ready to hang on your bedroom’s wall. " This is Art "- I thought.
The Fine Art course not only broadened my perception of Art but also showed the interconnection between different medium. Cats, hamsters and possums stopped being only drawings hung up on the bedroom’s wall. Instead- they became paintings, installations, writings, performances and video works.

List of publications / exhibitions / prices / concerts / shows etc.

EXHIBITIONS:
It’s My Turn | Kunstuitleen, Utrecht, January 2020

NOMINATIONS:
Dooyewaard Stipendium Award 2021
LEF Mondriaan Huis Amersfoort 2021