Artwork Statement

“In the grey monochrome of lockdown, constrained by rules and restrictions, my creative energy went stagnant. Until one afternoon, I closed the door to my studio, and something bloomed. A rebellion of colour, movement, and fluidity. Dancing, moving, and playing again, I felt a connection forming—a bridge to my hidden self.”

In the ‘Winterbloom’ series, these vivid and dynamic self-portraits were taken amidst the depths of winter during COVID-19 lockdowns, when our movements were limited and we were effectively stuck inside. Yet, it was precisely within these constraints that I discovered my freedom—freedom of colour, freedom of movement, and freedom of my creative spirit. I moved, I danced, and these abstracted portraits captured a change in what I was feeling.

These images are also an act of creative rebellion against the prevailing selfie culture of social media. In a world inundated with self-images that often perpetuate destructive influences, I sought to create self-portraits that emanate a positive aura of self-love and embrace vibrant self-expression.

Artist Bio

Aldona Kmieć is a Polish-born Australian photographic artist based in Melbourne. She graduated from the London Metropolitan University with a Higher National Diploma of Photography in 2008. Kmieć migrated to Australia in 2009 where she settled in Ballarat. While living in Ballarat she has been heavily involved in the art and community including the Ballarat International Foto Biennale and the Multicultural Ambassador Program at City of Ballarat.

As an artist and photographer Kmieć s work traverses installation art and photography. In 2020 and 2022 Kmieć was commissioned by the State Library of Victoria to undertake a multi-story documentary project called ‘Focus on Country Victoria’. She has been the recipient of multiple prizes including the ‘Under the Floorboards’ Art Residency Award, the CCP Leica Salon and Eureka Art Prize.

She is also a finalist for the 2014 Bowness Photography Prize and 2023 and 2014 Head On Portrait Prize. Her works are held in the collections of the State Library of Victoria, Museum of Democracy at Eureka, the Ballarat Arts Foundation, St John of God, and numerous private collections.

ARTIST WEBSITE