SCAM

SCAM
Ester Parasková Scam approaches painting as a site of labor rather than expression. What begins as an intuitive, bodily encounter with the surface gradually shifts into a controlled, repetitive process shaped by expectations, production logic, and institutional frameworks. The studio becomes a factory-like environment, where painting operates less as a singular gesture and more as a system of endurance, repetition, and management. Parasková employs mechanically repeated drawing and fragmented cartoon imagery—particularly Disney iconography—as a metaphor for mass production and the erosion of individuality. Stripped of narrative and facial identity, these figures become anonymous units, echoing the depersonalization of labor and politics alike. Swathes of oil pastel introduce moments of movement and chromatic freedom, standing in tension with the rigidity of the drawn system. Rather than mourning the loss of originality, Scam exposes the mechanism itself. Repetition becomes a tool of visibility, revealing how authorship, freedom, and meaning are continuously negotiated within contemporary image production.