Karina Horgas

Mad Swirl is excited to introduce our next featured artist, Hungarian painter Karina Horgas, whose surreal collection of work blurs the line between flesh and machine. Detached limbs, mechanical forms, and vivid dreamlike imagery converge in works as unsettling as they are mesmerizing. Curious, intricate, and richly imagined, Horgas’ paintings invite you to linger, and reflect on where humanity ends and technology begins. Step into this singular body (no pun intended) of work and explore for yourself. ~ Madelyn Olson

(click on the image to view it in its entirety)

Columbae — Karina Horgas

Matrix generation — Karina Horgas

Faith — Karina Horgas

Sacrifice — Karina Horgas

Tongue splitting — Karina Horgas

Cogitatio II — Karina Horgas

Somnia et scientia — Karina Horgas

A bouquet of flowers — Karina Horgas

Glass slipper — Karina Horgas

Togue piercing — Karina Horgas

Cogitatio — Karina Horgas

A bit about Karina: I live and work in Pécs, where I am currently pursuing my doctoral studies at the Doctoral School of the Faculty of Music and Visual Arts, University of Pécs. I hold a Master’s degree in Painting and a Master’s degree in Art Education from the same institution.

My artistic and research interests focus on the human body as a time-bound, ever-changing, and materially decaying entity. In my doctoral research, I examine transgressive representations of the body in contemporary art, those that cross physical, technological, or conceptual boundaries — and explore how digitalization and technological progress reshape the notion of the human body.

In recent years, I have collaborated with the Department of Anatomy at the University of Pécs Medical School, creating large-scale anatomical drawings based on dissected models for educational use. This collaboration has significantly influenced my artistic perspective and deepened my interest in the intersections between medical science and visual art.

My current research explores the philosophy of posthumanism, mapping new forms of interaction between the human body, materiality, and technology. Through experimental painting; most often using enamel, a medium that itself embodies transformation and boundarycrossing — I seek to visualize medical and technological interventions that modify or extend the body.

At the core of my artistic inquiry lies the question of how the human body is changing in the Anthropocene era: how technological, biological, and cultural processes influence its transformation, and how the concept of “the human” can be redefined within the framework of posthuman philosophy.