I like you, I like you a lot

I like you, I like you a lot is a personal work, about family and the experience of death and mourning. It responds to the tragic loss of the artist’s 13-year-old brother Maks, who drowned while on a scout’s trip in May 2008 in Poland.

Initially the work is documentary in character and reveals the sequence of events in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy. What is shown are the intimate familial moments of bereavement while enduring the standard procedures for an accidental death, i.e. the scrutiny of the place of death, the morgue, the funeral, and the recovery of personal items during the period of immediate shock and grief. During this period the camera became a protecting shield from the brutal reality in a helpless situation.

The artist’s approach changed as time elapsed. The work evolved to become more open ended and reflective on the experience of loss.

Alicja Dobrucka (1985) is a Polish born artist living in London. She has studied at FAMU in Prague and Goldsmiths in London. In May she took part in Riga Photomonth but now her solo show is on view at Zacheta gallery in Warsaw.