In AGNES WITH SPIDER Szakats draws from an anonymous portrait of Agnes Sorel, mistress to King Charles VII of France. Sorel’s exposed breast – a symbol of fertility, beauty and vulnerability – links her tragic story of beauty and betrayal. The spider acts as symbol of protection and it is also a nod to Rosemarie Trockel’s work Replace Me (2009); at the same time it can be seen as a reminder of the looming death by poisoning that awaited her.

Szakats’s use of motifs – which she combines with her personal reflections on intimacy and conflict inspired by the work of theorist Eva Illouz – resonates with her personal experiences and emotions, acting as a means to sift through complex or contradictory feelings and make sense of them through visual expression.

The act of reinterpreting and appropriating art history becomes both a process of self-education and an embedded, subliminal language in her art, enriching it with nuanced references and a layered depth that links the past with the personal.