Martyna Pekala

Martyna Pekala (2000, PL) is a multimedia artist based in Rotterdam, Netherlands. She obtained her Fine Art diploma from HKU University of the Arts Utrecht and a Master’s degree at the Dirty Art Department at Sandberg Institute. Though her practice is not confined to a fixed set of mediums, it is characterized by camp and surreal video compositions, digital collages, and hybrid installations. In her research, she fictionalizes and materializes the intricate effects of social media and online presence on an individual’s unique perception of the world — a phenomenon she describes through a self-coined term, auto-gaze. This is achieved through a sci-fi and fantasy toy merchandise-inspired cosmology of environments and self-performed characters (also known as ‘clones'). In her artistic process, she uses the lens of a camera as not only a literal mirror but also a reflection of our tech-obsessed society. Her face appears and repeats throughout the works like a borderline-narcissistic shameless plug, to highlight social media’s demand to self-brand and appeal to the algorithm. As our world is increasingly plagued by AI misinformation, algorithmic division, and political polarization, she aims to raise awareness of how these changes affect intimate aspects of life, such as self-perception and relationships. The worlds of her works reflect the ugly parts of our digital society that expose themselves to us as visual candy we cannot look away from. They manifest in vivid colors and bold patterns, yet beneath the comical and, at times, overly cute absurdity, an undercurrent of escapist discomfort attempts to seep through, prompting the viewer to question whether the pursuit of ‘staying connected’ may paradoxically lead them to isolation.