FIRE ELEMENT
Ongoing project started in 2023.
Media: Wall-based sculptures, 35mm photography.
Harnessed as an elemental force, fire becomes both a medium and a symbol in Lena Zak’s artwork. It represents destruction as a precursor to transformation, a theme central to her exploration of resilience and renewal. The process of burning the wood strengthens the material, allowing Zak to create pieces that reflect the paradox of fragility and endurance. This mirrors the human condition, where struggle and discomfort are often necessary pathways leading to change.
Fire also carries anthropological and cultural significance, symbolizing the very foundation of human progress. Yet it also carries a notion of confrontation against established structures. In this sense, the act of burning becomes a performative critique of systems while emphasizing the potential for renewal — FIRE ELEMENT seeks to act as a metaphor for personal and collective change.
'FIRE ELEMENT' - PROCESS (2023) — analog photography, 35 mm film.
AURORA (2024) — mixed media of fire, wood, spray paint, LED tube light, hardware. 150 x 40 cm.
AURORA - PROCESS (2024) — analog photography, 35 mm film.
OMINOUS (2023) — mixed media of fire, wood, graphite pencil and spray paint. 170 x 140 cm.
OMINOUS - PROCESS (2023) — analog photography, 35 mm film.
fire element exhibited during 'the unrequested’ group show at notagallery, Berlin (2025).
THE LIGHT INSIDE IS BROKEN, BUT I STILL WORK (2023) — mixed media, 120 x 100 cm. 'LENA ZAK' SOLO EXHIBITION AT SPÄTIBROS, BERLIN (2024).
THE LIGHT INSIDE IS BROKEN, BUT I STILL WORK (2023) — mixed media, 120 x 100 cm.
Frágil (2023) — mixed media, 100 x 100 cm.
frágil - process (2023), analog photography, 35 mm film.