Hi Ashley and Brit,
Have you ever wondered what true crime and oil paint have in common – and whether art could actually help find missing persons? I’m guessing probably not – but regardless, I’m here to answer those questions.
My name is Zuzanna, and I’m a Crime Junkie from Poland. I graduated in painting from the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, and as you can imagine, painting involves a lot of long, quiet hours – perfect for listening to podcasts – Crime Junkie for instance. Back in 2019, listening to one of your episodes, a question popped into my head: is there a way I could get involved in missing persons cases myself?
These kinds of cases are something very personal to me. Years ago, a close family member – my brother – went missing. It was only for a dozen or so hours, but those hours were filled with fear and helplessness I’ll never forget.
That experience, combined with the stories I heard on your podcast, led to an idea: what if a painted portrait of a missing person could reach people in a different, deeper way than a poster ever could?
I reached out to the Itaka Foundation, Poland’s largest NGO focused on missing persons, and proposed a collaboration. That’s how this project was born. The goal was to highlight four real cases of missing people in Poland – not just by retelling their stories, but by capturing them in paint, in the last places they were seen. I visited those places myself to better understand the people behind the names. The result is a series of paintings that aims not only to give visibility to the missing and their families, but also to spark reflection on what disappearance really means – the emptiness, the uncertainty, the unanswered questions. I don’t know if these paintings will help solve any of these cases. But I do believe the stories matter. Raising awareness matters. And anyone can do that – even a painter from Poland.
If you’re curious to see the paintings, I’ve attached some documentation of the project, and you can also find more on my Instagram (@zpi_art). And if you ever feel like crossing the ocean, the exhibition will be on display in Kraków from August 14 to 30. You’re more than just invited.
And if you’re ever interested in covering (another) case from Poland, I volunteer to be your personal Crime Junkie, helping however I can.
Thank you for everything you do,
Your Crime Junkie from Poland,
Zuzanna