Renaissance Play House -Kitchen, 2026

Dubravka Lazic  

This photography installation reimagines a domestic space through a surreal lens. It blends the mundane with the classical. Everyday kitchen objects meet the grandeur of antiquity. A white cupboard stands beside a delicate tea set. Nearby, a dark wooden table holds wine bottles and ceramic bowls. These realistic elements contrast sharply with two monochromatic figures. The figures emerge like paper cutouts from a forgotten era. They possess the dramatic folds and chiaroscuro of Renaissance painting. This juxtaposition creates a playful tension between different centuries. The artist explores the boundary between three-dimensional reality and two-dimensional representation. Each object is meticulously placed to suggest a staged scene. The white background strips away context to focus on form and history. It invites a reflection on how we perceive heritage within modern living. The artwork transforms a simple kitchen setting into a conceptual theater. It bridges the gap between academic art history and contemporary photography. The composition is balanced yet unsettling in its stillness. Every detail emphasizes the dialogue between the tangible present and the imagined past.

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