Self Deco Series (2025)

Text by Karolina Dema:

“Self Deco is an ongoing series of oil paintings in which I place myself within iconic sites of Art Deco architecture. Beginning with the Villa Empain, and soon expanding to include the Van Buuren House in Brussels and Saltdean Lido in Brighton, these spaces of leisure, elegance, and reflection become stages for personal narratives.

Coming from a working-class background, this work reimagines belonging, claiming a place within environments historically tied to privilege and wealth. It is both a play on memory and fantasy, a way of inserting myself into settings that once felt distant, while establishing my place in the art world.

Inspired by artists such as David Hockney, Tamara de Lempicka, Mickalene Thomas, Kerry James Marshall, and Mequitta Ahuja, the series explores water, reflection, and architectural beauty as metaphors for transformation and presence.”