Ewelina Węgiel

Studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow (2015-2021), Zurich University of the Arts (2019), Berlin University of Arts (2019-2020), LUCA School of Arts in Brussels (2020-2021). She focuses on and explores knowledge based on intuition, instinct, imagination, and body symptoms. Her projects are long-term as she experiments with the subject, the archives, or her understanding in collaboration with the community. In her films, main characters are not individuals but communities, dogs, mosses, insects, cut trees, and buildings.

Q: WHAT WAS YOUR ROUTE TO YOUR CURRENT ARTISTIC PRACTICE?

Since I was 5 years old, I took drawing lessons, when I was 7 years old, my dad, who is a photographer, let me shoot my first footage, he bought me a camera and already then he showed me the huge amount of functions in photoshop, since I was 10 years old I played the guitar, the piano and then I also finished a sewing course.

I think this has always shaped my intuition and how I can express myself in different media.

Then I started my art studies and used any opportunity to travel, change place of living- exchanges, summer schools, studies abroad, residencies and I understood how important is to meet other artists and curators and musicians and filmmakers, makers and not only and that without building this community, my work as artist wouldn’t be possible.

Q: CAN YOU IDENTIFY ANY ELEMENTS OF YOUR COMMUNITY OR COLLABORATORS THAT HAVE HAD A STRONG INFLUENCE?

For the last 3 years I’ve been working within catholic church (as an atheist) on the video of which part I sent. I started when I was 21 then and I spent huge amounts of hours and this experience made me think about art and community in a different way. Foremost I’ve learned empathy and patience, listening and not judging anybody but try to understand and thanks to this approach, parishioners who I worked with, were relaxed with me and opened.

Q: HOW IS YOUR PROJECT TIED TO THE CIRCA X DAZED CLASS OF 20:21 THEME OF ‘COMMUNION’?

All my videos are about the communion of people, rethinking it and understanding the power of it, but also gives a broader view on it. Also in this day and age of man-made climate change, we need to act together and our relationships should be based on mutual respect, listening to each other, and friendship. In my project I was thinking about building ties between different beings and appreciating those bonds that exist.

Q: HOW WOULD THE CIRCA PRIZE OF £30,000 IMPACT YOUR FUTURE PRACTICE?

The award would allow me to continue working with community actors, facilitate the long process and post-production necessary for my projects. I would especially like to work with non-human actors.

I would like the film industry to not only be open to stories about human individuals and I intend to make such films, even though this is always the main reason why my proposals for funding are rejected.

FOLLOW EWELINA WĘGIEL ON INSTAGRAM