About Monika Maroziene
Monika Maroziene is an emerging voice in contemporary photography whose artistic work reflects a rare union of science and poetic intuition. With a master's degree in chemistry and a passion for visual storytelling, she has developed a distinctive style that seamlessly bridges material experimentation with profound emotional resonance. Her career marks an evolving dialogue between disciplines where photography, alchemy, memory, and nature intersect.
Born and raised near the Baltic coast of Lithuania, Monika Maroziene has drawn lifelong inspiration from the Amber Coast, a region shaped by wind, pine forests, shifting dunes, and the wild sea. This environment, especially the Curonian Spit, forms the heart of her latest body of work, Woman and the Sea, presented for the first time in Switzerland at Petra Gut Contemporary.
“The dunes of my childhood—unpredictable, silent, and vast -are landscapes of both memory and meaning,” she notes. “Women, like sand particles in the wind, are powerful and fragile, always shifting, never fully grasped.”
The exhibition AMBER COAST explores time, transformation, and female strength through tactile black-and-white photographs enhanced with an unusual medium: pine tree resin. In several works, Monika Maroziene melts resin directly onto her archival pigment prints. The material, a natural preservative and visual enhancer, imparts an amber-like glow to the surface, evoking both the geology and nostalgia of her home region.
Importantly, the resin used is not fossilised amber but contemporary tree sap—highlighting the theme of change over time and Maroziene's refusal to romanticise the past. The result is a new photographic language: part scientific process, part emotional archaeology.
Each photograph is a meditation on solitude, memory, and the elements. Through resin, wind, and sand, Monika Maroziene examines the invisible forces shaping identity, femininity, and the natural world. The surface becomes a second layer of meaning—literally and metaphorically.
Awards and Recognition
In the past two years, Monika Maroziene has received widespread international recognition. Among her most recent honours:
🏆 1st Place, Fine Art Photographer of the Year – Monochrome Photography Awards 2024
Official site listing Amber Coast as the winner of Fine Art Photographer of the Year.🥇 Gold, Fine Art / Portrait – Tokyo International Foto Awards (TIFA) 2024
TIFA winners page confirming Monika Maroziene’s 1st place in Fine Art/Portrait for “Woman Is Like The Sea”🥈 Silver – Prix de la Photographie Paris (Px3) 2024
PX3 winners gallery showing “Woman Is Like The Sea” with a Silver award in Fine Art/People🥈 Silver – Budapest International Foto Awards (BIFA) 2024
BIFA winners listing Monika Maroziene receiving a Silver award for “Woman Is Like The Sea” in Fine Art/Nudes.🥉 Bronze – One Eyeland Photography Awards & Exposure One Awards
Exposure One artist profile confirming the Bronze award and more.
One Eyeland Top 100 reference listing her among Bronze winners:🏅 Honourable Mention – International Photography Awards (IPA) 2024
IPA 2024 e-book listing includes her honourable mention.
Her works were also selected for the URBAN Photo Awards and featured in URBAN Unveils the City and its Secrets – Vol. 10 and the Monochrome Photography Awards Annual Book 2024. Maroziene’s photographs have been exhibited at Trieste Photo Days, among other festivals.
Material Meets Memory
What sets Monika Maroziene apart is her ability to translate physical material into emotional terrain. Her scientific background in material transformation complements her fascination with intangible concepts, such as solitude, resilience, and intuition.
“I always sensed a void where art should be,” she explains. “Photography allows me to fill that space with silence and light.”
Her photographs are not meant to be consumed quickly. Instead, they invite viewers to pause—to notice the softness of texture, the fragility of light, and the layers beneath the surface.
Exhibition Details
Vernissage:
🗓 Wednesday, 2 July 2025
🕔 17:00 – 19:00
📍 Petra Gut Contemporary, Nüschelerstrasse 31, 8001 Zürich
Exhibition:
📅 3 July – 16 August 2025
🕙 Tue – Fri: 11:00–18:00 | Sat: 11:00–16:00 (or by appointment)
📍 Petra Gut Contemporary, Zürich
📞 Contact: +41 (0)44 422 40 69
📧 Email: gallery@petragut.com
🌐 Website: www.petragut.com
📸 Instagram: @petragutcontemporary
About Petra Gut Contemporary
Located in Zürich and St. Moritz, Petra Gut Contemporary is a photography-focused art gallery that champions both established names and rising talents in the field of fine art photography. The gallery's programme is curated around innovation, visual storytelling, and artistic depth.
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