
Joanna Piotrowska & Formafantasma
In 2015, Joanna Piotrowska was photographing in Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory within Azerbaijan, when she was apprehended by local police. Accused of spying for Russia, Piotrowska was subjected to intensive questioning that culminated in her interrogators’ demand that she continue her work to prove her innocence. Faced with the prospect of perpetual surveillance, Piotrowska turned her attention to roses, “the only safe subject,” as she’d later explain. In one print, part of the expansive installation Sub Rosa, 2022, a hand delicately cups a dark rose, a slightly stiff yet gentle gesture