If any work of art is, in fact, a hidden portrait of its creator, then the short film ‘Self-creation‘ is more than just an experiment; it is a declaration of honesty in the face of artistic discourse as a form of self-discovery. Ewa Sztefka delivers a visual and musical mini poem, a video art installation, which transcends the limitations of a conventional narrative structure, in order to explore the deep layers of an artistic identity. Adopting the principles of abstract art, the director signs a project that must first and foremost be felt, not understood rationally, despite the clever concept that coagulates the whole synesthetic gears. In practice, we are invited into a metaphorical universe which, while taking on the attributes of surrealist automatism, the courage and naivety of Dadaist collages, but also the techniques of stop-motion animation, illustrates the process of creation – or rather, the process of self-knowledge – of an individual faced with a self-reflexive exercise.
It is as if the director is “painting” her face, as she looks at herself in a mirror that goes beyond the superficial skin barrier to reveal the subtle anatomy of her own consciousness and imagination. This accumulation of layers defining the creator’s personality is not devoid of biographical inflections or details evoking passions, fears, identity crises or political beliefs. Despite its vibrant interface, Ewa Sztefka’s project is, in this sense, far from being a naïve idealization of the self, far from the trap of a romanticized perception that might in some way exaggerate, through hyper-poeticism or exaggeration of inner traumas and darkness.
Certainly, the maturity of her artistic approach shines through beyond the first impression of this installation resembling a disinterested child’s game. On the contrary, the progression of images and the gradual exploration of the concept is, despite its deceptive simplicity, well thought out and cleverly contextualized by the ambient sound environment. Thus, the musical pattern with its playful and dynamic oscillations functions as a cohesive element of this seeming chaos of successive layers, aiming to concretize a tender and honest X-ray of the director’s sensibility. ‘Self-creation’ is thus a consistent experiment that proposes a questioning of the genesis of the mental universe defining a personality.
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