Michalina Kacperak, Untitled #3 (Under the paper), from the ‘Soft Spot’ series, 2021–2024
review

ARTIST IN FOCUS: Michalina Kacperak. An artist glimpsing into memory, family, and personal trauma.

Michalina Kacperak (b. 1993), a Polish photographer and visual artist, explores profound themes of memory, family, and personal trauma, while her works have been part of various prestigious group exhibitions, such as Circulation(s) Festival in Paris (2022), Riga Photography Biennial – NEXT (2023), Cracow Photomonth (2024), and PhEST Festival in Monopoli (2024). She also received the Młoda Polska 2024 scholarship program from the National Centre for Culture.

Michalina Kacperak. Photo by Kinga Klimczak.
Michalina Kacperak. Photo by Kinga Klimczak.

Kacperak presents her works through an intimate, reflective lens that often merges realism with symbolic aspects. Her approach combines photography with metaphorical visual elements, employing a vibrant and almost playful aesthetic to soften the gravity of the underlying issues, such as codependency and early maturation. Her visual storytelling invites reflection on emotional safety and the influence of familial roles on individual identity. Just like in her “Soft Spot” project, which won the first prize in the Bartur PhotoAward in the Ann Lesley Bar-Tur Student category (2022). It offers a poignant glimpse into her family life, focusing particularly on the childhood of her youngest sister, Zosia. 

The work emerged as a form of emotional healing and self-reflection, capturing moments of play and imagination within the confines of a challenging home environment shaped by her father’s struggles with alcoholism.

Michalina Kacperak, Untitled #1 (Braids), from the ‘Soft Spot’ series, 2021–2024
Michalina Kacperak, Untitled #1 (Braids), from the ‘Soft Spot’ series, 2021–2024
Michalina Kacperak, Untitled #2 (Painted bird), from the ‘Soft Spot’ series, 2021–2024
Michalina Kacperak, Untitled #2 (Painted bird), from the ‘Soft Spot’ series, 2021–2024
Michalina Kacperak, Untitled #3 (Under the paper), from the ‘Soft Spot’ series, 2021–2024
Michalina Kacperak, Untitled #3 (Under the paper), from the ‘Soft Spot’ series, 2021–2024

The work emerged as a form of emotional healing and self-reflection, capturing moments of play and imagination within the confines of a challenging home environment shaped by her father’s struggles with alcoholism. Through this project, Kacperak documents interactions with her family, intertwining childhood innocence with resilience and themes of emotional complexity. By collaborating with her family in these scenes, she crafts a genuinely personal and universally relatable narrative, offering viewers a sensitive reflection on vulnerability and recovery through art.

Michalina Kacperak, Untitled #4 (Ball), from the ‘Soft Spot’ series, 2021–2024
Michalina Kacperak, Untitled #4 (Ball), from the ‘Soft Spot’ series, 2021–2024
Michalina Kacperak, Untitled #5 (Sleeping dad), from the ‘Soft Spot’ series, 2021–2024
Michalina Kacperak, Untitled #5 (Sleeping dad), from the ‘Soft Spot’ series, 2021–2024
Michalina Kacperak, Untitled #7 (Fire), from the ‘Soft Spot’ series, 2021–2024
Michalina Kacperak, Untitled #7 (Fire), from the ‘Soft Spot’ series, 2021–2024
Michalina Kacperak, Untitled #14 (Ponies), from the ‘Soft Spot’ series, 2021–2024
Michalina Kacperak, Untitled #14 (Ponies), from the ‘Soft Spot’ series, 2021–2024
Michalina Kacperak, Untitled #13 (Desk), from the ‘Soft Spot’ series, 2021–2024
Michalina Kacperak, Untitled #13 (Desk), from the ‘Soft Spot’ series, 2021–2024
Michalina Kacperak, Untitled #17 (Legs), from the ‘Soft Spot’ series, 2021–2024
Michalina Kacperak, Untitled #17 (Legs), from the ‘Soft Spot’ series, 2021–2024
Michalina Kacperak, Untitled #18 (Mom), from the ‘Soft Spot’ series, 2021–2024
Michalina Kacperak, Untitled #18 (Mom), from the ‘Soft Spot’ series, 2021–2024
Michalina Kacperak, Untitled #19 (Hands), from the ‘Soft Spot’ series, 2021–2024
Michalina Kacperak, Untitled #19 (Hands), from the ‘Soft Spot’ series, 2021–2024
Michalina Kacperak, Untitled #21 (Me), from the ‘Soft Spot’ series, 2021–2024
Michalina Kacperak, Untitled #21 (Me), from the ‘Soft Spot’ series, 2021–2024
Michalina Kacperak, Untitled #22 (Last photo of Zosia), from the ‘Soft Spot’ series, 2021–2024
Michalina Kacperak, Untitled #22 (Last photo of Zosia), from the ‘Soft Spot’ series, 2021–2024

As such, Kacperak’s other exhibitions and collaborations, including the “Ouch” show created with artist Karolina Balcer, emphasise cooperation and the therapeutic potential of art. This collaborative exhibition, which received the first special prize during Warsaw Gallery Weekend 2024, awarded by the ING Polish Art Foundation, explores parallel themes of familial trauma, using humour and a non-literal approach to address heavy topics.

Karolina Balcer, Michalina Kacperak, Ouch, 2024
Karolina Balcer, Michalina Kacperak, Ouch, 2024

About The Author

Patrycja
Poznańska

Musician, producer and art enthusiast, passionate about any and all forms of experimental art. Student of Culture and Media management at Jagiellonian University in Kraków and alum of the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York.

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