Katarzyna Kozyra (b. 1963, Warsaw), Souvenir from a Dream

Biography
Sculptor, author of installations and videos. In 1985-1988 she studied German studies at the University of Warsaw. In 1988, she began studying at the Department of Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. There, in 1993, she defended her diploma in the studio of Prof. Grzegorz Kowalski. Katarzyna Kozyra's diploma work, "Pyramid of Animals" (1993), garnered considerable, initially mostly negative, publicity in the press and on television. Since then, the artist has become known as a dutiful scandalist in the Polish media. After graduation, she stopped practicing sculpture in favor of photography, video, video-installation and performances. In 1997 she was awarded the Paszport Polityki award as the most promising Polish artist. Representing Poland at the 47th Venice Biennale in 1999, she received an honorable mention. In the 1990s, Katarzyna Kozyra was recognized as a leading artist of the so-called "critical art" trend, mainly due to her touching on social taboos (death, illness, nudity), usually related to the issue of the body. Her interest in corporeality dates back to the period of her studies (e.g. : "Nudes of anorectics" 1991, "Black and white Polaroids" 1992). She currently lives in Berlin and Warsaw.