Guntra Works

Unconscious Unfolding

2 textile blinds (roll up-curtains)

2024

This project celebrates the positive aspects of the unconscious mind, particularly its capacity for creativity, freedom, and expression. I used two large cotton roll-up curtains as the canvas, painting two whimsical, human-like characters based on a drawing game I played with my husband. The game involved drawing different parts of a body without seeing what the other had drawn, resulting in random, imaginative figures. This piece represents a personal breakthrough in my practice, as it allowed me to fully embrace the unpredictability and beauty of the unconscious mind.

The Plates of Chairs

9 bone chine plates, acrylic paint

2024

The Chair of Chairs

Ikea Stefan chair, acrylic paint

2024

This piece critiques the relentless cycle of design, redesign, and production in the world of consumer goods. I used a second-hand IKEA chair as a symbol of the endless creation of objects that serve more as status symbols than as practical items. By painting numerous small, white copies of the same chair on the seat, I rendered the chair unusable, transforming it into an object that carries a new, projected story and value. This work is a commentary on commodity fetishism and my own disillusionment with the design industry.

Threads of Power

3 second-hand men’s button-down shirts, acrylic paint

145cm x 45cm

2025

This piece, made from three second-hand men’s shirts, critiques how the ultra-wealthy manipulate the middle class to support global conflicts that harm the lower class. A stylised tie, transforming into a hand dropping bombs, symbolises this violence.

The garment’s bottom represents resource exploitation and environmental destruction, driven by wealth consolidation. On the back, hands reaching upward symbolise displaced people seeking shelter, contrasting with the passive acceptance of war by the elite and middle classes. As far-right ideologies rise, refugees are vilified and denied asylum in the countries fuelling the conflicts they flee.

This work aims to provoke reflection on power dynamics, our role in perpetuating suffering, and the complicity of wealthy nations, like the Netherlands, through arms sales and support for violent regimes, such as Israel’s genocide of Palestinians.

Subconscious Connection

2 golden textile hands with a mirror, acrylic paint

2024

The Man Who Sold The World

men’s jacket, acrylic paint

2024

Inspired by the legacy of Edward Bernays, this piece uses a second-hand man's blazer as its canvas. Bernays, often regarded as the father of modern marketing, manipulated the unconscious mind to fuel consumerism and, by extension, global capitalism and political control.

I painted white stripes on the blazer, reminiscent of old prison uniforms, and added white paint drips from a tucked-in sleeve to symbolize the wealth and misery his techniques have brought to the world. This piece is a critique of the darker side of marketing and its impact on society.