Dutch photographer Tony Dočekal presents a new series focusing on the transition from childhood to young adulthood. In "Paper Stars," she follows the life of Lyric, a girl growing up in a remote border region of the United States. In the work, Dočekal explores how changes in her living environment and daily routines contribute to the formation of identity. The solo exhibition runs from February 22nd to March 22nd at Art Gallery O-68 in Velp. A selection will be shown during Art Rotterdam from March 27th to 29th.
"Paper Stars" comprises photography and video work and originates from a portrait of Lyric from 2022, when she was nine years old and living on a school bus in southern Arizona, USA. This marked the beginning of a long-term relationship between the photographer and her subject. Time moves in seconds and years. Identity forms and shifts. Against this personal development, a broader context unfolds: an America in transition, where distance, uncertainty, and contradictions permeate even the most remote areas.
Lyric said of living on a school bus: “I only miss my friends. And paper to draw on.” Dočekal visited Lyric regularly in recent years, in various locations. Lyric moved to a homestead in the desert, while her relationship to the world slowly changed. Identity becomes something to be processed and revised: adolescence as a phase of self-reflection.
'Paper Stars,' Dočekal's largest exhibition to date, features no fewer than 70 works and unfolds in layers. Paper as a medium for expression and bureaucracy, with stars as symbols to give direction to our lives, from childhood wishes to stars sewn into a flag.
Tony Dočekal (born 1992, Amsterdam) is a photographer and visual artist. In her work, she combines long-term projects with personal relationships, in which time, environment, and individual stories play a central role. Her work has been shown at Biennale Images Vevey, UNSEEN Amsterdam, and Museum MORE, among others. Her first book, The Color of Money and Trees, was published by VOID in 2024.