Karolina Jabłońska Jarred Head, 2025

Executed in oil on canvas, Jarred Head represents a self-portrait, a recurring motif bequeathed by the artist’s study years. Jabłońska’s pictorial alter-ego meticulously explores multiple identities and psychic realities.

Following the artist’s trademark gesture of devoting the entirety of the pictorial space to the portrayal of her alter ego’s distinctive facial features, the work depicts a grim looking face entrapped within a giant jar. One eye peers out directly at the viewer, while the other is covered by a hand that rests pressed against the glass. Employing a distinct blue purplish palette, the image evokes a visceral response in the viewer, where we feel the pressure exerted by the jar against facial tissue.