Obsession and Idolization: Mixed Media

Artist Statement

The absolute purpose of an icon is to be a means of veneration and worship. Icons are essentially symbolic, and lead our souls from the visible to the invisible, the material to the spiritual, the symbol and representation to the actual being. The icons are in the image of BIGBANG, a South Korean pop band, and go beyond mere “fan paintings.” While the icons are inspired by imagery from magazine covers and fashion shoots, through icons these images are transcended into a new purpose—to enlightened, sacred, and metaphysical objects of pure devotion and spirituality. These icons are not just images, they are BIGBANG itself, in all its glory, in a state of pure refinement and awareness, existing in a most high and perfect form. As the viewer, one can personally engage with the band in a non-abstract way. This is the virtue of the “window relationship” of an icon, where there is a window directly between the imagined and the real, separating the spiritual and physical realms. Through the “window” that I create, an audience is granted a metaphysical manifestation of the quintessential version of BIGBANG, and BIGBANG exists in the realm of enlightenment and eternity with the audience can engage.

Koziak headshot_opt (1)Dominika is a Canadian artist with a Ukrainian-Polish cultural background. Born in 1991 in Edmonton, Alberta, Dominika completed her BFA at the University of Alberta in 2013. Dominika then moved to New York City, where she attained her MFA at the School of Visual Arts. Dominika also received intensive training at the Rome Art Program in Italy, where she focused on painting and drawing from classical architecture and art. In New York City, she attended the Prosopon School of Iconology, where she studied classical techniques and style of Icon writing.

Her art focuses on a relationship between contemporary and ancestral culture. These paintings invoke the Byzantine Iconographical style of painting, with Korean pop idols as the subject. Ancestral techniques from both cultures also play a role in the work, through the application techniques of writing an icon, and historical motifs.