Zuzanna Wachowicz
Print MA
Royal College of Art
Specialisms: Printmaking
Location: Szczecin, Poland
Zuzanna Wachowicz
First Name: Zuzanna
Last Name: Wachowicz
Specialisms: Printmaking
Sectors:
My Location: Szczecin, Poland
University / College: Royal College of Art
Course / Program Title: Print MA
About
Since 2020, my practice has been motivated by the ongoing fight for women’s rights in Poland. That year, the constitutional tribunal ruled that abortion in cases of foetal illness is unconstitutional, resulting in a near total ban on abortion and the death of multiple women in hospitals from sepsis. In 2026, abortion is still banned; women suffer from public shaming, arrests, harassment and attempts to extort their medical records. I object to the dehumanisation of women for the sake of a political agenda.
In my work, I explore womanhood through a raw, embodied lens. The hardships we face every day and the generational impact of patriarchy and how that feeds into one’s sense of self. My practice is intertwined with Polish history, aesthetics, and culture. I rely on religious imagery to reference wider culturally held beliefs and archetypes. This way, I can also provide a commentary on the influence that religion has on politics and social norms in Poland. I use the female body to challenge the stigma of women’s sexuality and detach it from the performance for the sake of the male gaze.
My choice of medium is collagraph. It helps me convey specific, often uncomfortable emotions through bold and dark textures. I choose materials based on the type of mark-making they could achieve, lines, dots, full blocks of colour, the tones they make, and the senses they carry: soft, stiff, pointy. I layer textures as if I were layering emotions, mending them and transforming them to reveal and release them. I want the texture of my prints to resemble flesh, membranes and organs, which is why I mostly use fabric. I use black instead of fleshy tones, as I want the viewer to be compelled to touch and caress, not avert their eyes.
In my work, I explore womanhood through a raw, embodied lens. The hardships we face every day and the generational impact of patriarchy and how that feeds into one’s sense of self. My practice is intertwined with Polish history, aesthetics, and culture. I rely on religious imagery to reference wider culturally held beliefs and archetypes. This way, I can also provide a commentary on the influence that religion has on politics and social norms in Poland. I use the female body to challenge the stigma of women’s sexuality and detach it from the performance for the sake of the male gaze. The layout of this project was inspired by the wall decorations of every communist-era Polish home.
Competitions
