Picture this: Monika Sosnowska

Monika Sosnowska’s work primarily revolves around the notion of space and how it is intensified through experience. She studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznan (Poland) and completed a postgraduate program at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam. Since the beginning of this century, she has participated in various major group and solo exhibitions, both in Europe and the United States. Her major breakthrough came after her participation in the fiftieth Venice Biennale in 2003. In the same year, she received the award for the most promising young artist at the annual art fair in Basel.

Monika Sosnowska creates architectural installations that disrupt the viewer’s perception and experience of space. She primarily starts from geometric patterns, referring as such to the modern Eastern Bloc architecture of the ’70s and ’80s. The influence of Russian constructivism from the early 20th century and her Polish background play a significant role in her work.

The exhibition at MDD showcases various architectural models. The artist alters architectural reality to create confusion for the visitor. She plays with (dis)orientation, trompe l’oeil, optical illusions, buildings within buildings, mazes, and surprising scale ratios to create a bewildering experience. This sensation leads the viewer to a sense of estrangement from the works they encounter. Monika Sosnowska is particularly interested in the moment when the physical experience transforms into a thought process. Although the works are based on reality, they can just as easily function in the dream world.

The spaces are simultaneously surprising, confusing, and frightening. The memories, experiences, and emotions of the visitors allow for different interpretations of the work. In this way, Sosnowska reflects the significant influence that architecture has on sensory perception and the physical relationship with our environment.