A KALTBLUT exclusive editorial introducing model and artist Bartek Stachurski. Photography by Taras Zubko. Styling by Aleksander Kotłowski. Makeup by Jo Cieplinska. Hair by Tomek Sieklucki. “Sweetest Sin” is a photographic extension of an ongoing series of abstract paintings inspired by the visual language of fashion photography and high fashion aesthetics.
“In my large-scale paintings, I create figures suspended somewhere between dream and performance. Elongated silhouettes, exaggerated limbs and theatrical gestures become carriers of emotion, tension and transformation. The protagonist of the series first appeared as a vision – a fleeting image glimpsed somewhere between sleep and consciousness. Over time, she became the central figure of the entire body of work: its muse, its alter ego.
For this editorial, I step into my own painted universe for the first time. As the model, I embody the figures I create, allowing the boundary between artist, image and character to gradually disappear. Makeup, costume and gesture become extensions of the painterly narrative, while the photoshoot itself begins to function as a living painting.
“Sweetest Sin” explores the tension between contrasts: beauty and unease, elegance and grotesque, innocence and something more unruly and unapologetic. I am interested in the moment when sophistication begins to verge on excess, and aesthetic perfection reveals a more instinctive, uncontrolled side. It is within this space — between the refined and the seemingly inappropriate – that I find the language of my work.”
Production / Art Creative Direction / Concept: Bartek Stachurski @b.stachurski, Taras Zubko @tarasx10
Photography: Taras Zubko @tarasx10
Model / Artist: Bartek Stachurski @b.stachurski
Styling: Aleksander Kotłowski @aleksander.kotlowski
Makeup: Jo Cieplinska @jocieplinska
Hair: Tomek Sieklucki @tsieklucki
Location: Warsaw
Styling: Corset: Archive Vivienne Westwood Loafers: Ferragamo (vintage) Cap: Maison Michel Collar: The Kooples Underwear: COS
Cameras: Mamiya RB67, Nikon F4S, Yashica 635 Film: Ilford HP5+, Kodak Portra 160, Kodak Double-X 5222
