MY HEART IS AN ANIMAL — KATARZYNA & MARCIN OWCZAREK
Original text by Magia Keshia Vandamme
Katarzyna & Marcin Owczarek have truly found each other as the perfect partners in crime, the Bonnie & Clyde of the photography scene. They complete each other in every way and without any argument, you can definitely retrieve this in their work. Magnificent. Like stepping into a fairy-tale, it just absorbs you, curious about the next move.
IN THEIR NEW SERIES “MY HEART IS AN ANIMAL” THEY’RE COMBINING HUMAN AND ANIMAL SOULS TOGETHER, COLLIDED WITH THE IMAGINARY, WHILE MAKING US UNDERSTAND THAT WE ALL HAVE THE SAME DESIRES …
They believe we’re all connected as one whole and should anticipate on this more often. So let yourself immerse in this enchanting world of surrealism through this interview here exclusively at Stitch. #wecallitstitch
Where did you get the idea for this project? What do you want to make people feel with this series?
The series is called “My Heart Is An Animal”. The main inspiration and idea was the relationship between human beings and animals. It is a fact that people resembles animals and animals resembles humans (emotionally, physiognomically). We share the same set of needs — we need nourishment, we need to be loved and understood, we need warm and shelter, we are all limited by mortal body, etc. … We wanted to stress the fact that we often forget how deep we are connected together with animal/natural world and we do not treat this kind of connection in a proper way. Animals are being abused, some species are close to extinction. By linking human and animal elements together, we want to say: we are all one living organism and we should respect each other. When we use animal masks and human bodies, it also means that we share all these aspects of existence. In addition: our idea was our state of mind and particular way we observe the world. This series satellites around allegories, archetypes, symbols, myths which are always up-to-date. The pictures have metaphorical and symbolic connotations. Using animal heads as a symbol and referring to instincts might be interpreted on many different levels. Symbols have many deep dimensions, they are stronger than passing time. Our human-animal instincts are simply universal and will be visible as long as this world exists. To summarize: we want to transmit serious message of living in coexistence with animals, plants and harmony with nature. Respect each other and other human beings and the planet.
How is it like working as a couple of photographers? What are the pros and cons?
We are together for 11 years and since we met we were both interested in art. After so many years we spent together we understand each other without words and it helps a lot during our working process. We share similar sensibility and perceive the world in similar surrealistic way, so creating and inventing this kind of images is common for both of us. The advantage and disadvantage is that we are both perfectionist, so we also need to make many experiments before …. read more here.
