Hersko, Judit: Witch-Hunt Series I-VII (1990)

In the 1990s, Judit Hersko dealt with the history of women and the changes in their social status in several of her works. The accusation of witchcraft has been one of the most horrifying ways in which women, especially those who aspired to independence, have been excluded, condemned and ultimately murdered. In her series, Hersko uses details from 17th and 18th century engravings depicting witches and the acts attributed to them. She ‘drew’ on the transparent plastic sheet by punching, melting and scratching, so that the representation itself only appears in the shadow of the work, composed into a picture, just as the oppression of women (e.g. that particular glass ceiling) is often invisible or at least not exactly visible at first glance. Anna Bálványos