Bestowing on matter an agency and injecting a lively spirit into what seemingly constitutes a passive element represents one of the primal concerns and fundamental inclinations for artist Szilvia Bolla.

The pieces and visions she brings into existence branch out beyond being mere objects, destined for a contemplative moment. They become assertions, statements and liminal devices to foster critical thinking and underpin a vision dense with meaning. More specifically, her research spans a deep and accurate engagement with the body, identity narratives and new technology exploration. These subjects are addressed from a post-capitalist perspective and are, therefore, investigated and undertaken through experimental processes that aspire to boost divergent narratives. The final result is artefacts, which, although alluring and captivating to the senses because of refined and cutting-edge aesthetics, are charged with a subversive potential that aims to generate an interplay between form and substance, speculation and practice, proactive involvement and emotional fascination.

What is your background, and where does your bond with art originate? Was there a significant moment when your practice actually bloomed?

At the age of 19, I left for Scotland to delve into the feral scenery of the Outer Hebrides through photography. I was helplessly enchanted by the paintings of Northern Romanticism, the pre-Raphaelites and symbolism while learning about the possibilities of lens-based media. Later, I graduated from the fine art photography course at Camberwell College of Arts in London which radically shaped me and my practice. Fearless risk-taking and endless trust in embracing trial and error. Process-focused experiments within the post-medium condition and beyond. Pushing the boundaries of photography and doing whatever feels right.

Which art from the past is closest to you, and which artistic, historical or philosophical era do you feel most connected to?

Many arts resonate with me from Eastern European Symbolist painting to the Light and Space Movement. My work is very much influenced by new materialism, feminist corporeality and post-human theories.

How would you define your research and creative process? Do you perform any rituals?

My creative process is driven by overcoming anxiety and is an exercise of being in the present whether by learning about a material or testing a new technique. First, it’s a very personal trigger, an emotion or everyday observation that I analyse further through reading, sketching or 3D modelling before it eventually manifests.

What is behind the choice of materials for your pieces? And what is the significance of transparency?

I first started experimenting with transparent thermoplastics as image substrates during my BA studies. I was focused on non-photography, abstraction and the post-digital image which I explored through mixing light-sensitive paper with digital UV printing on perspex. Then it evolved into a more sculptural practice as I found myself driven by creating objects more than images. My approach to photography was always somehow object oriented and I still look at photographs as magical artefacts, however, those experiments encouraged me to immerse myself in different materials and processes such as translucent plastics. Perspex was first developed for military technology as human tissues that are injured by perspex shards healed faster than by glass. Transparency refers to the ancient search for the glass-like immortal soul and the failed utopia of capitalism.

Your works appear ephemeral, but they are sharp at the same time. They look like weapons, and exude a dynamic tension. They are iridescent in their palette and convey a supernatural feel. What led you to explore this very aesthetics?

In the “Exoskin” series that is light sensitive colour paper transferred to plexiglass and shaped as skin tissues, I’m fascinated by the human body and its sensitivity to the shifting environment.

With the dagger and hand mirrors, I’m interested in how our artefacts make us human and how our body is extended by our artefacts so they become an intimate part of our biology. They are more human than we are. I look at my objects as lively agents with their own characteristics that are a mix of references from speculative fiction and gothic materialism. Such aesthetic gestures are ways of elevating the power of materials and their vibrant vitality.

How do you envision your approach as an artist evolving in the future?

Collectivity and collaboration make much more sense right now than solely focusing on my individual practice. And it feels like it will more and more in the future. I believe in hybridity and always aim to broaden my horizons by working together with people from different backgrounds and expertise.