D. (4.09.2021)
Co Twoim zdaniem ma największy wpływ u człowieka na to jak postrzega nagość?
In your opinion, what has the greatest influence on how a person perceives nudity?
I think it's the environment, upbringing, and how nudity was perceived at home - whether it was a taboo subject - as well as how things shaped up later in life and what kind of people one surrounded oneself with. Whether for them it was also something forbidden, or rather something natural.

Do you think it also depends on the geographical latitude?
Definitely. Every culture has different customs. Here, it’s unthinkable to go to the pool with your mom, grandma, or a female friend and undress in the shower, whereas in Iceland, it’s completely normal, and it wouldn't even occur to anyone not to undress. Because why should I wash myself in a swimsuit?
A jak jest z tym stosunkiem do nagości u Ciebie?
Moim zdaniem jest to
totalnie naturalna rzecz. Nie mogę zrozumieć, często bardzo mnie to smuci,
kiedy słyszę, że jakaś dziewczyna mówi, że ona idąc na plażę nie rozbierze się
do stroju kąpielowego. Do stroju! Bo ona ma cellulit, nie ma idealnie wciętej
talii czy czegoś. I jest to dla mnie coś totalnie nie do pomyślenia, bo mi
nigdy w życiu by do głowy nie przyszło, żeby to miał być problem. To jest
strasznie przykre, że odmawia sobie przyjemności, relaksu przez to jak mogą
postrzegać ją inni czy też, że może myśleć, że interesuje kogoś obok, że ona
wygląda tak czy tak. Niestety żyjmy w takich czasach, w których Instagram robi
bardzo dużą krzywdę i promuje nienaturalnie wyidealizowane sylwetki. Do tego
mamy chyba dość duży problem z seksualizacją ludzkiego, a przede wszystkim
kobiecego ciała. Nie myśli się, że jest to po prostu ciało, a zazwyczaj traktuje
się je wyłącznie w kontekście bardzo seksualnym.
And how is it with your own attitude toward nudity?
In my opinion, it is a totally natural thing. I can’t understand - and it often makes me very sad - when I hear a girl say that she won't even strip down to a swimsuit when going to the beach. To a swimsuit! Because she has cellulite, or doesn't have a perfectly snatched waist or something. To me, that is something totally unthinkable, because it would never occur to me in my life that this should be a problem. It’s terribly sad that she denies herself pleasure and relaxation because of how others might perceive her, or because she thinks someone nearby actually cares if she looks a certain way. Unfortunately, we live in times where Instagram does a lot of harm and promotes unnaturally idealized silhouettes. On top of that, I think we have a fairly large problem with the sexualization of the human - and above all, the female - body. People don't think of it as simply a body; it is usually treated exclusively in a very sexual context.

It seems to me that, according to many people, you can no longer look at a woman like a sculpture or a form; there is always, unfortunately, that sexual subtext. I believe this needs to change, that we need to show a different perspective on it. I don’t have a problem with it. I often laugh with my friends that I have no shame. There are sometimes situations, for example, where I want to try something on and I’m in a thrift store - where the customs are a bit more relaxed - and if I’ve been waiting half an hour for a fitting room, I’m not going to wait any longer; I’ll just undress right there in the middle, try it on, and that’s it. And there’s always surprise. Or in front of someone - if someone comes over and I’m talking to them but I need to change, I don’t suddenly run away to the bathroom; I just change. I know it shocks people, so of course, it depends on the relationship. But with my friends specifically, I have the kind of relationships where we aren't ashamed of our bodies. When we go on a trip and we're by a lake, we often swim naked, or even in everyday life, we aren't self-conscious around each other.
Jak to się u Ciebie rozwinęło w
tak pozytywnym i zdrowym kierunku? Czy wynikło to z wychowania czy może
nastąpiła w którymś momencie przemiana albo było to formą np. buntu?
How did this develop in such a positive and healthy direction for you? Did it stem from your upbringing, or was there a transformation at some point - or perhaps it was a form of rebellion?
I think since I was little, I never really had those problems, even though I was raised in a very traditional home where nudity was a huge taboo. Despite the fact that I was a chubby girl, it wasn't a problem for me to change in front of my friends. I certainly had insecurities, but I wasn't ashamed of my body. I don't know what came first - whether it was traveling and the loosening of customs associated with it, because I don't travel to hotels but rather by hitchhiking and sleeping in a tent or bathing in a river, which dictates certain things - or my studies. Because I studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, where there are drawing and painting classes. You walk into a studio where there are 60 people and 2 naked women in the middle, and they sit there all day. It’s impossible then to look at it as anything other than a still life. Just like I would look at a flower or a sculpture. I think that had a very big influence.
Czyli dopiero na studiach
artystycznych przeszłaś ten główny proces oswojenia z cielesnością czy już
wcześniej?
So it was only at art school that you went through that main process of becoming comfortable with physicality, or was it earlier?
I think it was earlier. It never crossed my mind that I should be ashamed to undress on a beach. But I believe that ease came with becoming accustomed to the body. Maybe it wasn't like that at the very beginning, but I don't think I was ever overly shy.
Ja w ogóle jestem
trochę czarną owcą u siebie w rodzinie. Wszystko, co robię jest całkiem inne
niż to, w czym wyrastałam i jakie wartości były mi przekazywane. Bardzo dużym
szokiem było dla mojej rodziny to, że poszłam na artystyczną uczelnię. Chyba
zbytnio nie czerpałam z rodzinnych wartości, a obrałam swoją własną ścieżkę.
Jakoś chyba od początku miałam gdzieś w głowie, że trzeba żyć tak, jak się
chce, bo nikt za mnie życia nie przeżyje. To moje wartości, które ja uważam za
dobre są górą, a nie to, co mi ktoś kiedyś powiedział.
I'm basically the black sheep in my family. Everything I do is completely different from the environment I grew up in and the values that were passed down to me. It was a huge shock for my family that I went to an art school. I don't think I drew much from my family's values; instead, I chose my own path. Somehow, I think I've had it in my head from the start that you have to live the way you want to, because no one is going to live my life for me. My own values - the ones I consider right - take precedence over what someone once told me.
Myślę, że z tą
nagością najbardziej obyłam się w momencie pójścia na ASP. Byłam też w pracowni
bielizny i to u swojej pani profesor, która robiła dużo pokazów dla amazonek,
obyłam się z tą innością, różnorodnością – tym, że nie wszyscy jesteśmy tacy
sami i to jest O.K. i można nie mieć z tym problemu, że ktoś wygląda inaczej.
I think I became most accustomed to nudity when I started at the Academy of Fine Arts. I was also in an underwear studio, specifically with my professor who did many shows for breast cancer survivors; I became familiar with that otherness, that diversity—the fact that we aren't all the same and that it's O.K., and that you can be fine with the fact that someone looks different.
Napisałaś mi przed spotkaniem
taką super rzecz – że jarają Cię też ciuchy i jak mogą wpływać na samopoczucie,
nastrój, a nawet tożsamość, ale myślisz jednak, że prawdziwie sobą jesteśmy bez
ubrań, niezdefiniowani przez to, co mamy na sobie. Mogłabyś to rozwinąć?
You wrote something great to me before we met - that you're also excited by clothes and how they can affect well-being, mood, and even identity, but you think we are truly ourselves without clothes, undefined by what we are wearing. Could you expand on that?
I work as a costume designer. I meet an actor on set, I dress them, and because of that costume, they step into a role. How they feel because of that outfit helps them inhabit the character. I love playing dress-up myself. I have a habit of setting my own summer trends every year and observing how my mood, who I am, my way of being, and how I move change along with them. I think clothing very much defines how we feel. I love dressing up my friends when they come over; I see the effect it has on them. It’s wonderful to see how a well-chosen piece of clothing can bring out so much in us and allow us to step into the role we want - because, after all, we step into some kind of role every day. But when we take those clothes off, nothing defines us anymore. We are alone with ourselves and we are just ourselves. We either accept that - and I would dearly love for everyone to accept it and feel good that way - or we have a problem with it and have to work on it so we aren't ashamed. To be able to stand naked in front of a mirror and say: "This is me, this is who I am, I have this body and I won't have any other. I can work on it if there’s something I don't like through exercise or whatever, but it’s the only one I have and it’s the most wonderful thing in the world. And if I don't love it, why should anyone else? And it's probably much more important that I love it, since I spend 24/7 with it and I’ll have it my whole life - so that should be what matters most."
Myślisz, że jako społeczeństwo
robimy w tej kwestii jakieś postępy czy wręcz przeciwnie?
Ciężko mi powiedzieć
dlatego, że jestem w specyficznej bańce społecznej. I o ile właśnie w gronie
swoich przyjaciół nie krępujemy się siebie, o tyle czasem muszę pomyśleć, że
kogoś może to zdziwić, a ja czasem o tym zapominam i zaczynam się przy kimś
rozbierać, przebierać. Ciężko mi jest powiedzieć jak jest poza tą moją bańką. U
mnie mam wrażenie, że jest coraz lepiej. Że coraz więcej moich przyjaciół nie
ma problemów z nagością i oswaja się z nią i akceptuje swoje ciało. Ale też
myślę, że to przychodzi w pewnym wieku. Czytałam kiedyś taki artykuł, w którym
było napisane, że najbardziej akceptujemy siebie w okolicach trzydziestki i
wtedy mamy najmniej skrępowania własnym ciałem. I to jest ten moment u mnie i
moich przyjaciół, kiedy wszyscy jesteśmy w okolicach trzydziestki – może to też
ma coś z tym wspólnego.
Do you think we are making progress as a society in this regard, or quite the opposite?
It's hard for me to say because I live in a very specific social bubble. While my group of friends isn't self-conscious around each other, I sometimes have to remind myself that it might surprise someone else; I occasionally forget and just start undressing or changing in front of people. It’s difficult to say how it is outside of my bubble. Within it, I feel like things are getting better - that more and more of my friends have no problem with nudity, are becoming comfortable with it, and are accepting their bodies. But I also think this comes with a certain age. I once read an article stating that we accept ourselves most around our thirties, and that’s when we feel the least inhibited by our own bodies. Since my friends and I are all around that age right now, maybe that has something to do with it as well.
A jakie są Twoje odczucia,
obserwacje czy przemyślenia w kwestii dzielenia swojej czy obcowania z nagością
innych ludzi? Bo być pogodzonym ze swoim ciałem, to jedno, a zupełnie czymś
innym jest dzielenie swojej nagości z kimś innym. I też inaczej z
partnerem/partnerką, a inaczej z obcymi na saunie, basenie, plaży czy nawet u
lekarza.
And what are your feelings, observations, or thoughts regarding sharing your nudity or interacting with the nudity of others? Because being at peace with your own body is one thing, but sharing your nudity with someone else is something completely different. It's also different with a partner than with strangers at a sauna, pool, beach, or even at the doctor’s.
I don't think I've ever been to a nudist beach, but I think if I went to beaches more often, I definitely would. However, I’ve never really thought about it; it never defined the direction of my travels. I haven't had much to do with saunas in my life so far either. I was once at a wild beach on the Black Sea where hippies lived, and they all indeed bathed naked, and that wasn't a problem for me at all.
I think that as a costume designer, you are a very appropriate person to ask this question - do you think the fact that we more and more often see women going braless lately is just a temporary fashion trend or a permanent step in the right direction?
I think, unfortunately, it's a temporary fashion trend. But this trend makes me happy because I think it will leave something behind within us. Perhaps some girls will conclude, "Oh my god, how could I have been binding myself with this bra until now and being so enslaved by it?" and they will never go back. But it’s not about doing it just "because," but rather to feel better, freer. I also hope that because of this, female nipples will stop shocking people as much as they do right now. Because it is incredible to me that they differ from male ones mainly by having a fold of fat attached to them, yet on Instagram, for example, male nipples are O.K., while female ones have to be banned. That actually makes me very angry.
Właśnie miałem zaraz pytać, co Cię denerwuje w społecznym podejściu do nagości.
I was just about to ask what annoys you about the social approach to nudity.
Well, first and foremost, the fact that we all have the same bodies, so why are we ashamed of them? I understand that we aren't all suddenly going to walk down the street naked. But to hide and sexualize the body to such an extent? That if a girl’s nipples are visible because she didn't wear a bra, she is perceived as the worst kind of person because she did it on purpose. I can't even explain it to myself.
In Poland, we also have this patriarchy where it’s instilled in women that if a man looks at their body while exclusively sexualizing it, it’s their problem and their fault, rather than the man's. That is probably what angers and hurts me the most. I’ll wear a short dress because I feel like it, and I’m not thinking at all about how someone will look at me or what they’ll be thinking, but then suddenly someone tells me it’s my fault because I "provoked" them by showing too much - rather than the fault of the person who saw a bit more thigh than "permitted" and suddenly had God knows what in their head. That is not how we should be looking at the body.
I would also like parents not to make nudity such a taboo subject for their children, because it seems to me that as a result, a girl or a boy grows up in a home where they only see a naked body on television, the internet, or in adult films. This creates a lot of problems regarding the sexualization of the body, because that is the only context in which they are able to get to know it. They don't see it in daily rituals or everyday life, only in erotic situations, so there is an immediate association and nothing beyond that. That’s why I hope young parents will raise their children a little differently. Because why should a mother be ashamed in front of her child? Both she and that child were born naked. And it’s the same with the father. It makes no sense. I can't understand it. And this is exactly what creates such a very strange, somewhat distorted approach, because we only see the body from one side. We enter adult life seeing only one aspect of nudity. Growing up in a conservative family, and later going through life with people who were raised in similar families, we don't encounter anything different, and we always look for a subtext. We assume that there must be a sexual subtext when a group of friends takes a shower together somewhere. It might be inconceivable to someone that this is simply something pure and human, specifically because they never had that perspective on it.
Myślisz, że nagość może komuś pomóc w „pogodzeniem się” ze swoim ciałem?
Do you think nudity can help someone "make peace" with their body?
Yes, yes! But you can't force anyone to undress. The right time has to come for everyone individually. You can set a good example, but you certainly won't achieve anything through pressure. This is such a delicate matter that everyone has to mature into it on their own. I can talk and say what I feel about the subject… although I am a bit of an extreme case, and extremes aren't good in any field. If I had gone through a journey where I was very ashamed, something helped me, I broke through, and now I’m a super free person who isn't self-conscious about their body and is at peace with it, then I could try to talk or encourage people in some way. But since I never had such problems, I won't understand that perspective, so it might have the opposite effect if I tried to "convert" people in some way. Everyone’s time will come. But I think this apartment liberates nudity a bit. People come in here and they aren't inhibited. I think there were many people who made peace with their nudity in front of others for the first time right here in this apartment, for example, while changing clothes.
Ale to była pewnie nadal ta Twoja bańka społeczna.
But that was probably still just your social bubble.
Somewhat, yes, but this apartment is also very open. Sometimes it's like a train station here. People come and go. And since I meet a lot of people through work, all kinds of people come here, and not everyone is from that social bubble. Ultimately, by coming here, they enter this bubble in a way…
Muszą się dostosować J
They have to adapt J
I think they want to in a way. I’m thinking now of two girls who came here and probably had a problem with that kind of natural nudity, but they saw that I wasn't inhibited and that we were all changing and getting dressed without it being an issue, and because of that, it came naturally to them here. But whether it was only this place that triggered that openness in them, or if it stayed with them later in life, I don't know.
No ale to właśnie kwestia tego, że to Ty dałaś przykład, że da się nagość potraktować jako coś totalnie naturalnego i codziennego i sama przestrzeń była bezpiecznym otoczeniem.
But that's exactly it - the fact that you set an example, showing that nudity can be treated as something totally natural and everyday, and the space itself provided a safe environment.
Why did you decide to take part in this project?
Well, I think precisely because it shows the human side of nudity. To promote it in some way and show people who haven't had contact with it that it's possible. That such an aspect exists and it is even more natural and normal than the erotic aspect, because it is much more frequent. And so that someone, seeing one reportage or another, would have a chance to think, "O.K., it's possible, maybe I'll try to think about it too, maybe I really have never experienced something like that." To even provoke some reflections, because it is a very healthy approach, and it wouldn't be fair if someone didn't know this side of nudity at all - not because something is wrong with them, but simply because they never had the opportunity and don't even know that it's an option. Because unfortunately, that is often exactly the case.
I jak było?
Raczej przed sesją się nie stresowałam, a w trakcie to już w ogóle nie było mowy o stresie. Było bardzo miło, momentami naprawdę czułam się jakbym była sama i miała swoją naturalną porankową rutynę.
And how was it?
I wasn't really stressed before the session, and during it, there was no question of stress at all. It was very pleasant; at times, I really felt like I was alone, just going through my natural morning routine.
























