Magdalena Piech holds up the mirror in her drawings for us to look into our own erotic realities.
But don’t expect to have your hand held, Magdalena Piech is here to confront our way of thinking on love and pleasure and peer into an intuitive somatic world where cunts reign over the rational.
We sat down with Piech to talk about her process as an artist, her fav places in Berlin and what’s it is like to be a fetish model.
You are not a Berlin native – where are you from and what brought you to Berlin?
I was born and raised in a small Polish town before moving to the US to eventually study art in Chicago.
I came to Berlin in 2012 to live with my long-term partner and continue developing my artistic practice.
Coming from a very academic artistic background, your art is unexpectedly hedonistic and fetish orientated.
In some drawings, you seem to explore the deepest needs of human nature. That’s our interpretation though, would you say it’s true?
Yes, that is definitely how I see the purpose of my drawing.
I have always been inspired by sub and refuse culture that is why I gravitate so much to old school fetish aesthetics.
Anybody who is familiar with my creative process will agree that I am a highly intuitive artist rather than a conceptual one.
My best friend went as far to say that:
“you draw from your cunt and not from your mind”
I will not get upset in the least if a person does not read the description of my work because it is more important for my art to be felt.
For that reason I chose imagery that is often beautiful/harsh, sexual/painful.
What moves you to draw this type of art?
I believe that art making is a sensual practice.
I want to explore different emotional states through texture and material.
This is probably the main reason why I am so insistent on representational drawing.
Many of the photographers we work with suffer from the consequences of censorship and shadow banning.
Are you also a victim of censorship or do you receive different treatment as someone who draws explicit art?
Not as much as some of my fellow artists.
But yes, I had several drawings taken down from social media for nudity and violent content.
The advantage of my style is that it is still recognizable as a drawing so I can get away with nipples much more than my photographer friends… genitals on the other hand, not so much.
BERLINABLE’s vision is changing people’s lives and the world through erotic literature and erotic visual art. How does your work as artist Magdalena Piech influence people?
Everyone is free to interpret my work as they please.
My biggest wish would be to showcase the different kinds of pleasure and love styles out there.
I believe that “love” and “pleasure” does not always have to fall under soft/gentle or monogamous/everlasting categories in order to be healthy.
You also work as a fetish model. What is the difference between being an active maker as Magdalena Piech vs being more passive?
Actually, I don’t see modeling as totally passive because I use it for very selfish purposes.
I see it as a very reduced form of acting and I like playing whatever roles are given to me by someone else.
Ever since 2017 I have been collaborating with several independent Berlin photographers not only for kicks but also to create references for my drawings.
I found that drawing myself as different characters which someone chooses for me, forces me to confront a lot of uncomfortable insecurities like giving up control over self image.
I like this vulnerable tension.
Do you see Berlin as an art hotspot?
I do. Ever since coming here I was fortunate enough to meet people with very unusual lifestyles.
Personally I find this to be very artistically inspiring.
What places would Magdalena Piech visit in Berlin if she stayed for only three days?
Köpi, KitKat and Trinkteufel – if you dare…
Which three Berlin artists besides Magdalena Piech should everyone know about?
There are honestly too many fascinating talents out there to name just three.
Some of my favorites both established and up-and-coming are: Ted Titus, Ana Bathe, Soren Jahan, Gili Shani, Marie-Charlotte Nouza, Patrick Hanne, Feryel Atek and Felix Scheinberger to name a few.
FINDING MAGDALENA PIECH
www.magdalenapiech.com
IG: @mpiech.art
