Elzbieta “Ela” Zdunek is a surrealist collage artist, specializing in disquieting, predominantly grayscale compositions. Her most common topic is transformation: initially, the characters emerge as dehumanized, impersonal forms—passive, fractured, and under external control, but over time they undergo a metamorphosis, acquiring character, agency, and ultimately, faces. However, the lingering puppet-like forms suggest the process remains incomplete.

The depicted change is neither easy nor empowering. This is underscored by the recurrent motif of a mask and the characters' dynamic shifts from hero to villain, from active to passive personas. Ela’s works form a certain mosaic that can be arranged in an infinite number of combinations. Consequently, interpretations and storylines can undergo significant shifts—denial to anger, hope to resignation, compassion to resentment. Viewers are invited to immerse themselves in this narrative and interpret the artworks through the prism of their own past, triggers, and prejudices.

Ela found solace in collage during the lockdown. Formerly a photographer, her focus has always been on the perception of the photographed object rather than the object itself. She continues this approach by capturing moments of action and inaction, when the outcome is uncertain, yet destined to define us in the eyes of others.

She has previously exhibited both locally in Berlin, as well as in New York and London; her works have also been published in several art magazines, among others, Heckmag, The Adroit Journal, or Door is a Jar. She is also a popular cover artist in the Berlin music scene.