Verena Blok (b. 1990) has a deep interest in personal histories and narrative storytelling. Intrigued by the way cultural and political factors influence one’s life, she uses her lens-based practice to shed light on the inner life and everyday ‘reality’ of her protagonists. As a Dutch-Polish dual citizen, Blok maintains a keen awareness of her positioning between East and West, and her work often refers to the gendered performance of the self. Encounters with her subjects take place in intimate settings, which serve as the core of and the fuel for her work. By becoming close to them and embedding herself in their lives for long stretches of time, she uses the context in which they exist as a studio, a backdrop to the narratives that both she and her subjects become part of.
Blok holds an MA Photography from AKV St. Joost in Breda (NL) and a BA Photography from the Royal Academy of Arts (KABK) in The Hague (NL). She was an artist in residence at Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten 2020-2022.
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