NIKA PETKOVIĆ

1. the aspect of someone’s character that is presented to or perceived by others; 2. a role or character adopted by an author or an actor.

How we become who we are and how we relate to those around us? Numerous studies confirm that identity must be considered as an ongoing process, a constantly shifting ground, that changes and transforms in relation to the perception of the other and through our relationships with other people. Is it possible than for the “I”, when it comes to intensively share the daily routine and be in close contact with another individual, to start adopting characteristics of the other or perhaps to lose some of its own? Do our personalities enter some kind of disintegration or vanishing process, or we simply arrive to the point in which we lose our perception of the self?

The work Persona was born with the intention to depict myself without having to stand in front of the camera. To achieve that I used as a model another person, my flatmate, with whom I have lived for six years. The photographs, made between 2012 and 2018, in which I purposely decide to conceal my image from the viewer are in some way documents of our daily routine as well as “life performances”, domestic but at the same time slightly staged situations, in which I try to inscribe in the other person my perception of the self. The complete series is included the dummy book entitled Persona printed in January 2019. 

How we become who we are and how we relate to those around us? Numerous studies confirm that identity must be considered as an ongoing process, a constantly shifting ground, that changes and transforms in relation to the perception of the other and through our relationships with other people.

Is it possible for the “I”, when it comes to intensively sharing the daily routine and living in close contact with another individual, to start adopting some of his/her characteristics or perhaps to lose its own? Do our personalities enter some kind of disintegration or vanishing process, or we simply arrive to the point in which we lose our perception of the self?

The work “nikaimeon” was born with the intention to depict myself without having to stand in front of the camera. To achieve that I used as a model another person, my flatmate, with whom I have started living six years ago when I moved away from my parents home. The photographs in which I purposely decide to conceal my image from the viewer are in some way documents of “life performances”, domestic but at the same time slightly staged situations, in which I obsessively try to inscribe in the other person my perception of the self.