“These strange sceneries are symbolic
presentations of how I perceive life, emotions,
sexuality and relationships, and human
behaviour,” Petolas tells INSPADES.
The path to Petolas’ current success
began in the digital realm, where she
mastered tools and applications as a
graphic and web designer. When she took
up photography, a “whole new world” of
artistic opportunity emerged.
“I could take what I saw in front of
me through the lens of my camera, and
transport it to other spheres which cannot
be found in reality.”
For ten years Petolas experimented with
various branches of photography including
portrait, still life, landscapes and macro.
Marrying her digital design skills with her
photography, Petolas was able to express her
ideas through imaginative, dreamlike scenes.
Grounding images with the realistic element
of her original photography, fantastical
scenarios and settings suspend any sense of
realism. Petolas’ projects are digitally based by
way of Photoshop and her Wacom tablet, yet
still, she manages to achieve the remarkable
effect of surrealist paintings.
Throughout Petolas’ work, common themes
and symbols include dinosaur skeletons,
women strangely placed in industrial settings,
disproportionately large fruit and postapocalyptic backgrounds.
24
inspadesmag.com