Zuzanna Salamon
Degree: BA Hons Fine Art
University: Gray's School of Art
Graduation Year: 2020
New Blood Art Commentary
Notable Achievements 2023
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Notable Achievements 2021
Feathers recur in Zuzanna Salamon’s work, and like the cyclical drift of nature they provide motif, symbol, and sign. At the same time as gesturing towards the artist’s interest in migration across cultures, they provide a unique challenge for her primary medium, charcoal, to render their textural specificity in a way that we experience as true. In ‘All birds forgot to sing’ what is impressive is the breadth of the scene and the minutiae of its contents: grass blades, the fringes of feathers, folds of a curtain, a flock of birds and their individual silhouettes, the sky and its shadings of light... all rendered in charcoal alone.
‘I try to grow new roots in the land I call foreign’ is another title evoking a mythic and a personal story. The realism with which the wooden floor in the background is rendered is a delight to see. Salamon’s paintings can be moody; they are always beautiful. In them trees and their fallen leaves also reoccur: the subject is growth, but in its complexity, interlocked as it is with questions of ritual, change, and environment – nature, but as it is interwoven with meaning for human eyes.
Zuzanna's work was selected for the 2023 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and the 2023 RSA Annual Exhibition.
Artist Statement
My current studio practice focuses on depicting trees that have been moved and transplanted elsewhere which symbolises my dislocation from home and living in a foreign country. As someone living and traveling all across Europe I am experiencing a lot of cultures but none of them simultaneously. My works falls between the boundary of the real and imaginary world, fusing elements from both. This creates a poetic sensibility that often feels dreamlike. I am often staging or adding to, already existing scenes to create my compositions. The metaphors and symbols that appear in my work comes from my own experience of longing for a homeland and Slavic culture which consists of rituals involving worshipping the elemental grandeur of nature. Therefore, the symbolism of trees, cut roots, and fallen leaves often appears in my work as a repeatable concept that reflects on human life and emotions. Trees and roots are often dramatically separated from each other, which acts as a figurative depiction of the experience of cultural displacement. This emotional consternation often leads to attempts to find and form new cultural connections. This is reflected in my practice by symbolic depictions such as roots adapting to new soil and trees trying to grow new branches. I often use dramatic lighting to suggest profound emotional disorientation, which is influenced by classical Eastern literature of writers such as Fyodor Dostoevsky and Adam Mickiewicz. Through my work, I explore my connection to home, but also my experience of living and understanding a foreign country. Because of its immediacy, mark-making, and tonality, charcoal is currently my primary medium, which I use to build up large-scale drawings. Its natural origin and predisposition allow me to deeply participate in the drawing process, using my hands directly on the surface to smudge and form shapes. It is an intimate action that allows me to be close and get involved with the subject on a very practical and personal level. The medium of drawing helps me to break down language barriers and enables me to create works on this theme of dislocation which many people can relate to.
Solo Exhibitions
(2018) 5 minutes of being lost, ArtKwarium, Sosnowiec, Poland
Group Exhibitions
(2023) The Royal Society of British Artists Bicentennial Exhibition 2023, Mall Galleries, London, UK
(2023) 197th Royal Scottish Academy Annual Exhibition 2023, The Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
(2023) The Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition 2023, The Royal Academy, London, UK
(2022) Aberdeen Artists Society Annual Exhibition, Aberdeen Art Gallery, Aberdeen, UK
(2022) 196th Royal Scottish Academy Annual Exhibition, The Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
(2022) Winners: Award-Winning Artists, Mall Galleries, London, UK
(2022) Society of Women Artists Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, UK
(2022) The Royal Society of British Artists Annual Exhibition 2022; 3rd- 12th March, Mall Galleries, London, UK
(2022) the Royal Society of British Artists Rising Stars Award; 29th April- 3rd July, The Royal Over-Seas League, London, UK
(2021) The New English Art Club Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, UK
(2021) - The Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition 2021; 22nd September- 2nd January 2021, The Royal Academy, London, UK
(2021) Paisley Art Institute Scottish Drawing Competition 2021, ArtSpace37, Paisley, UK
(2021) 195th Royal Scottish Academy Annual Exhibition 2021, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, UK
(2021) Royal Society of British Artists, Mall Galleries, London, UK
(2021) Four Pillars, Tatha Gallery, Newport on Tay, UK
(2021) The Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition 2021, Royal Academy of Art, London, UK
(2020) 30x30 Society of Scottish Artists, Society of Scottish Artists, Online edition
(2020) Aberdeen Artists Society, Aberdeen Art Fair, Aberdeen, UK
(2020) Gray's School of Art Degree Show, Online, Aberdeen, UK
(2020) 194th Royal Scottish Academy Annual Exhibition 2020, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, UK
(2020) Paisley Art Institute 132nd Annual exhibition, Paisley Art Institute, Paisley, UK
(2020) Coming Home, Aberdeen Artists Society, Aberdeen Art Gallery online exhibition, Aberdeen, UK
(2020) On the Table online exhibition, MARRAM Arts, Edinburgh, UK
(2020) Gray's School of Art 4th year panting exhibition, Edinburgh Palette, Edinburgh, UK
(2019) Absolwenci, Centrum Kultury Ślaskiej Zgoda, Świętochłowice, Poland
(2019) Trouvaille, Gray's School of Art, Aberdeen, UK
(2019) Aberdeen Artists Society, Aberdeen Art Fair, Aberdeen, UK
(2019) Gray’s Outlet, Belmont Film House, Aberdeen, UK
(2018) SMORG:ARTS: BORD, Belmont Film House, Aberdeen, UK
(2018) Yet to be Titled, OT Projektarium, Berlin, Germany
(2018) SNAP, Ruthrierston Community Centre, Aberdeen, UK
Competitions, Prizes & Awards
(2021) The Velvet Easel Gallery Award
(2021) de Laszo Foundation Prize Highly Commended
(2020) The Royal Scottish Academy John Kinross scholarship 2020
(2020) Scottish Artists’ Benevolent Association Award; Royal Scottish Academy
(2018) 2nd Prize BGF & EY Painting Exhibition
(2021) The Hermione Hammond Drawing Award at the New English Art Club Annual Exhibition 2021, June 2021, Mall Galleries, London, UK.
(2022) - The John Lynn Commemorative Award at The Royal Society of British Artists Annual Exhibition 2022; Mall Galleries, London, UK.
(2022) - de Laszo Foundation Prize Highly Commended April 2022 at The Royal Society of British Artists Annual Exhibition 2022; Mall Galleries, London, UK
(2022) Karin Walker Young Artist Award
(2022) The Donald Ritchie Prize for Emerging Artist at Aberdeen Artists Society Annual Exhibition 2022