Darya Siamchuk (b. 1990, Grodno), known as Cemra (“darkness” in Belarusian), treats the painting itself not as a surface, but as a living body with its own unique form. She builds an “epidermis” from plaster bandages, resin, oil, and varnish — a layered skin that physically registers compression and human experience.
Working with rupture and voids as material conditions, she focuses on surfaces that store what is removed or silenced. Since her displacement from Belarus in 2022, political violence has become a central theme, evolving her practice into a “collective epidermis.” Her works do not illustrate pain but embody it, preserving the shared memory of what cannot be expressed in words. Based in Warsaw.
"In my practice, I refuse to perceive the canvas as a flat surface, treating it instead as a living body—with shoulders, bones, and scars. Using plaster bandages, resin, and oil, I create an “epidermis”—a structural skin that physically records trauma and care. Here, the act of bandaging functions biopolitically: it is simultaneously a medical intervention and a formal artistic strategy of absolute empathy, designed to protect, expose, and stabilize the fragile form.
After my forced displacement from Belarus in 2022, my works bear witness by forming a “collective shell,” archiving the shared memory of political violence. Avoiding direct narrative, the surface itself becomes a physical archive of trauma. In my recent project Ziamliačka, this shell extends to the earth itself, where I
explore the profound pain of losing one’s native soil and of violent uprooting. For this work, I carried soil across the border and extracted from it the scent of my homeland.
My projects and sculptural paintings do not merely illustrate pain—they physically embody it. By integrating wheelchairs, traditional ornaments, elements of prison uniforms, and bandages into my works, I confront the viewer with the tactility of the scar, transforming individual vulnerability into a monument of collective endurance."
Working with rupture and voids as material conditions, she focuses on surfaces that store what is removed or silenced. Since her displacement from Belarus in 2022, political violence has become a central theme, evolving her practice into a “collective epidermis.” Her works do not illustrate pain but embody it, preserving the shared memory of what cannot be expressed in words. Based in Warsaw.
"In my practice, I refuse to perceive the canvas as a flat surface, treating it instead as a living body—with shoulders, bones, and scars. Using plaster bandages, resin, and oil, I create an “epidermis”—a structural skin that physically records trauma and care. Here, the act of bandaging functions biopolitically: it is simultaneously a medical intervention and a formal artistic strategy of absolute empathy, designed to protect, expose, and stabilize the fragile form.
After my forced displacement from Belarus in 2022, my works bear witness by forming a “collective shell,” archiving the shared memory of political violence. Avoiding direct narrative, the surface itself becomes a physical archive of trauma. In my recent project Ziamliačka, this shell extends to the earth itself, where I
explore the profound pain of losing one’s native soil and of violent uprooting. For this work, I carried soil across the border and extracted from it the scent of my homeland.
My projects and sculptural paintings do not merely illustrate pain—they physically embody it. By integrating wheelchairs, traditional ornaments, elements of prison uniforms, and bandages into my works, I confront the viewer with the tactility of the scar, transforming individual vulnerability into a monument of collective endurance."
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Exhibitions:
Solo
ABSENCE — Kube Gallery, Genk, Belgium (opens 21 May 2026)
ZIAMLIAČKA — Kunsthaus Graz, Graz, Austria (2026)
FRAGILE — MAD Gallery, Poznań, Poland (2025)
LAZARET — Museum of Free Belarus, Warsaw, Poland / Beseder Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic (2023)
ACHING — A&V Art Gallery, Minsk, Belarus (2021)
UNTITLED — Art-Belarus Gallery, Minsk, Belarus (2020)
Group Exhibitions:
Charity Auction for the Humanosh Foundation — Piękna Gallery, Warsaw, Poland (2023)
Where am I — Montenegro European Art Community Gallery, Budva, Montenegro (2023)
Who Owns the Land (on conflict, diaspora & coloniality) — THE PINNA Gallery, online, London (2023)
The Autumn Salon — National Gallery Palace of Arts, Minsk, Belarus (2021)
Art-Minsk International Festival — National Gallery Palace of Arts, Minsk, Belarus (2020)
Awards:
2019 — Winner, The Autumn Salon, National Gallery Palace of Arts, Minsk, Belarus.
2019 — Innovation Prize, Triennial of Young Artists, National Gallery Palace of Arts, Minsk, Belarus.
Grants & Residencies
2025 — Artist-in-Residence, Kulturvermittlung Steiermark and the City of Graz, Austria.
2024 — Adradzhenne (National Revival Scholarship), Representation for National Revival of Belarus.
2023 — ArtPower Belarus Grant, Belarusian Council for Culture & the Danish Cultural Institute (with support from the European Union).
2020 — Artist Residency, Dukley European Art Community, Budva, Montenegro.
Publications & Mentions:
2026 — Bielarusian, video performance presented at ISPA (International Society for the Performing Arts), New York, USA.
Articles, reviews, and contributions published in New Eastern Europe (including the author’s essay Giving a Voice to Those Who Can No Longer Speak, 2024), Chrysalis Magazine, Magazyn Szum, and other international publications.
Education:
2013–2017 — Belarusian State University of Culture and Arts, Minsk, Belarus
B.A. in Cultural and Social Management.
2008–2011 — Gomel State Art College, Gomel, Belarus
Diploma in Design.
https://cemra.art
https://www.youtube.com/@cemra/videos
Solo
ABSENCE — Kube Gallery, Genk, Belgium (opens 21 May 2026)
ZIAMLIAČKA — Kunsthaus Graz, Graz, Austria (2026)
FRAGILE — MAD Gallery, Poznań, Poland (2025)
LAZARET — Museum of Free Belarus, Warsaw, Poland / Beseder Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic (2023)
ACHING — A&V Art Gallery, Minsk, Belarus (2021)
UNTITLED — Art-Belarus Gallery, Minsk, Belarus (2020)
Group Exhibitions:
Charity Auction for the Humanosh Foundation — Piękna Gallery, Warsaw, Poland (2023)
Where am I — Montenegro European Art Community Gallery, Budva, Montenegro (2023)
Who Owns the Land (on conflict, diaspora & coloniality) — THE PINNA Gallery, online, London (2023)
The Autumn Salon — National Gallery Palace of Arts, Minsk, Belarus (2021)
Art-Minsk International Festival — National Gallery Palace of Arts, Minsk, Belarus (2020)
Awards:
2019 — Winner, The Autumn Salon, National Gallery Palace of Arts, Minsk, Belarus.
2019 — Innovation Prize, Triennial of Young Artists, National Gallery Palace of Arts, Minsk, Belarus.
Grants & Residencies
2025 — Artist-in-Residence, Kulturvermittlung Steiermark and the City of Graz, Austria.
2024 — Adradzhenne (National Revival Scholarship), Representation for National Revival of Belarus.
2023 — ArtPower Belarus Grant, Belarusian Council for Culture & the Danish Cultural Institute (with support from the European Union).
2020 — Artist Residency, Dukley European Art Community, Budva, Montenegro.
Publications & Mentions:
2026 — Bielarusian, video performance presented at ISPA (International Society for the Performing Arts), New York, USA.
Articles, reviews, and contributions published in New Eastern Europe (including the author’s essay Giving a Voice to Those Who Can No Longer Speak, 2024), Chrysalis Magazine, Magazyn Szum, and other international publications.
Education:
2013–2017 — Belarusian State University of Culture and Arts, Minsk, Belarus
B.A. in Cultural and Social Management.
2008–2011 — Gomel State Art College, Gomel, Belarus
Diploma in Design.
https://cemra.art
https://www.youtube.com/@cemra/videos
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