Metamorphosis 1983-1986 In 1983 Krystyna Ziach started the black-white series Metamorphosis: a coherent research on body-performance in dialogue with monumental painted backgrounds /.. / Initially, in the series Metamorphosis, Ziach began by making self-portraits. Contrary to the work of many female artists in the early eighties, Ziach’s work was not intended to reveal her own identity, but rather to research the expressive energy of the female body and, in doing so, to push back the frontiers between photography and painting. Against expressionist backgrounds full of contrast she assumed expressive poses. Her painted body either contrasted with the backgrounds, or formed a chameleonic whole with them. For the photograph Geometry, she painted the nine edges of a cube on her body and the backcloth, which makes her seem to be part of the geometric figure. This photo can be considered as the prelude to the later series Melancholy /.../ Krystyna Ziach / A Chamber of Mirrors 1984-1994, text by Iris Dik, 1994, translation Hanny Keulers
