What truly defines us?
Elzbieta Zdunek’s digital collages explore themes of identity, perception, and the pressure of external judgment. Her work questions how many versions of the self exist, shaped by context and subjective interpretation. Through repeated visual elements, she highlights the cyclical nature of human behaviour, the illusion of choice, and the constant tension between how we see ourselves and how we are seen by others.
Photography Elzbieta ZdunekWhen creating, one of the biggest questions I keep coming back to is: What truly defines us? How many versions of ourselves exist, shaped by the context we’re in? A context that is not and can never be truly objective?
My work explores the way we are perceived from the outside and how subjective interpretations of our words, choices, and behaviours can be. Definitions shift over time, words take on new meanings, and every perspective is influenced by personal history, background, and bias. A recurring theme in my pieces is the weight of external judgment: how labels define or dismiss us, and the impossible, often conflicting expectations placed upon us.
I aim to capture the constant doubt, paranoia, and sense of inadequacy that come from being under public scrutiny, where everything - from appearance to actions – is judged. The audience, in turn, becomes both juror and voyeur.
By repeating recurring themes and elements throughout my work, I emphasise the inevitability of events and their consequences, the cyclical nature of human behaviour, and the illusion of choice – how what we believe we control has often been predetermined. As Umberto Eco put it: "Every story tells a story that has already been told."
“My work explores the way we are perceived from the outside and how subjective interpretations of our words, choices, and behaviours can be.”
About Elzbieta
Elzbieta “Ela” Zdunek is a writer and collage artist specialising in digital, predominantly grayscale compositions. Her work explores alienation, identity struggles, and the subjectivity of perspective, shaped by personal histories and biases. Central to her art is the question: what defines us, and how many versions of ourselves exist depending on the context?
Originally trained in photography, Ela has always focused more on perception than the object itself—a perspective she carries into her collages. She captures moments of change, when outcomes remain uncertain but will shape how we are seen.
Ela draws inspiration from silent films and historical theatre. Her work has been exhibited at Omnibus Gallery, Chromart Art Space, and Berlin’s Kitkat Club, and published in magazines like The Adroit Journal, The Maintenant Dada, and Door is a Jar.
To see more of her work, follow her on Instagram
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