Renaissance Play House - Bedroom, 2026

Dubravka Lazic  

This photography explores the intersection of history and domesticity. The composition resembles a miniature stage. It blends classical imagery with mundane objects. A nude female figure stands beside a cloaked silhouette. These figures evoke the grandeur of old masters. They contrast sharply with a small brown bed and a checked cloth. The arrangement feels like a curated playhouse. It challenges the viewer to reconsider the scale of art. The lighting is soft and neutral. It emphasizes the flat nature of the cutout figures. This creates a tension between two and three dimensions. The artist utilizes her deep academic background in film and photography to construct this scene. Every element is placed with precision. The result is a surreal dialogue between the sacred and the everyday. The artwork transforms a simple bedroom setting into a conceptual space. It invites reflection on how we consume historical beauty in modern contexts. The scene concludes with the stark contrast of the white linens against the brown wooden frame.

Renaissance Play House is a photographic series that juxtaposes Renaissance drawings and paintings with plastic toy furniture, creating unexpected visual encounters between historical heritage and contemporary consumer culture. Through the deliberate collision of opposing elements—timeless and disposable, refined and playful, sacred and ordinary—the works invite viewers to question established values and cultural narratives. The resulting tension becomes a visual metaphor for transformation, suggesting that perhaps it is time for a new Renaissance.

Dubravka Lazić is an artist and professor of photography whose work combines analog and digital techniques, often exploring the interplay between reality and imagination. Her practice is marked by a poetic visual language that intertwines narrative, memory, and experimentation. Through photography, photograms, and mixed media processes, she creates layered images that evoke intimacy and reflection, while also highlighting the subtle tension between tradition and contemporary approaches.

From the Renaissance Play House series
Digital photography
Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper
Edition of 6