Monica Chulewicz

Statement

I have several chronic illnesses, some of which are progressive and life threatening. I have mitochondrial disease (CPEO and Kearns Sayre Syndrome), dysautonomia (POTS, orthostatic hypotension, and vasovagal syncope), retinitis pigmentosa, gastroparesis, complex regional pain syndrome, peripheral neuropathy, chronic headaches, mental illness, misophonia, costochondritis, bilateral hip dysplasia, suspected connective tissue disease, and some additional unexplained conditions. I also have hearing loss.

My prints are collected memories from a past that is unknown to me. I use vintage photographs to create dialogues between history, memory, and time that address themes of existence, fragility, and mortality, as well as the theme of loss of life and memory, and disability.

Through my work, I express my issues with memory and a key point to my life and thought. I suffer from progressive diseases which have forced me to deal with my own mortality head on. My work can often be translated as self portraits, with other women standing in place of me. They tell my story when I cannot.

Much of my work is exploration and experimentation. I've learned not to set my ideas in stone, as they grow with each piece. I often stumble across "happy accidents" with my work and it is constantly evolving.

I hope to express through my work a sense of realization of mortality as well as the loss of memory. I toy with reality of the past, its fiction, the tension between the two, and how it is capable of leaving us suddenly.

Dancing Thru Tangled Weeds I’m Not Here For You To Taunt The Day The Universe Fell The Gleaming Light In The Dark
Dancing Thru Tangled Weeds
2016
handmade book with solvent transfers on mulberry paper and cotton rag paper
5.75” x 24” x 3.5”
I’m Not Here For You To Taunt
2016
cyanotype on found material and dress
90” x 35”
The Day The Universe Fell
2016
cyanotype and gold leaf on ingres paper
12.64” x 7.82”
The Gleaming Light In The Dark
2016
cyanotype and gold leaf on lama li lokta paper
8.4” x 7.8”
A Tired Diligence to Evoke There Is No Sadness in Life with You by My Side (Self Portrait with Coby) My Dearest Daphne A Midday’s Dream
A Tired Diligence to Evoke
2014
quilt made of solvent transfers on found fabric and antique sewing machine with table
dimensions variable
There Is No Sadness in Life with You by My Side (Self Portrait with Coby)
2014
solvent transfer on ingres paper
10.42” x 16.14"
My Dearest Daphne
2014
solvent transfer on ingres paper
15” x 10.46”
A Midday’s Dream
2016
solvent transfer on cotton rag paper
6.7” x 22”