About BEYOND PHYSICAL FORM
BEYOND PHYSICAL FORM, is a platform at the intersection of art, science, and ethics, started by Anna Suwalowska (artist) and Dr Halina Suwalowska (University of Oxford) in 2019. Since its inception BEYOND PHYSICAL FORM has sparked interdisciplinary collaborations, international exhibitions, and public engagement projects. Its first major exhibition, Beyond the Body: A Portrait of Autopsy, examined cultural taboos surrounding post-mortem practices across societies. More recently, Homage to the Departed (2023), a collaboration with artists and the McGregor Museum in Kimberley, South Africa, explored the ethical challenges of the presence of human remains in museum collections. By engaging with medical institutions, cultural organisations, and underrepresented communities, the platform seeks to open conversations on what we owe to the dead, how they should be treated, and the deep cultural sensitivities that shape our understanding of the relationships between mind, body, and spirit.
Copyright © 2025 - Anna Suwalowska All Rights Reserved.
Collaborators:
Oxford University, UK
Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, UK
Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, Baltimore, US
Pathology Learning Centre, University of Cape Town, South Africa
University of Cape Town, South Africa
University of Antwerp, Belgium
McGregor Museum, Kimberley, South Africa
World Health Organisation
Wellcome Centre for Cultures and Environments of Health, University of Exeter, UK
Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium
National University of Singapore, Singapore
KwaZulu-Natal Museum in South Africa
University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Anna Suwalowska is a London-based Polish artist. She holds an M.A. from the Royal College of Art in London (2013) and a B.A. from Camberwell College of Arts (2011), alongside a Diploma in Dental Technology.
In her paintings she explores the intersections of psychology, memory, and perception, studying how the subconscious mind constructs reality. Influenced by automatism and free association, her paintings uncover the underlying landscapes of thoughts and emotions. By drawing from museum artifacts and symbolism she integrates mythical narratives into her work and creates a contemporary reality shaped by the Mind’s Eye. Rooted in themes of death, mental health, and the subconscious, her work analyses cultural taboos surrounding autopsy and the materiality of the body, offering a deeper examination of the human condition.
Anna has contributed to academic and artistic discourse through collaborations with institutions such as the University of Oxford, the University of Exeter, and the University of Cape Town. She is the founder of BEYOND PHYSICAL FORM, a platform at the intersection of art, science, and ethics that examines the important questions surrounding death, the treatment of the dead, and the beliefs that shape our understanding of the mind, body, and spirit. Through creative and academic collaborations, most recently in partnership with Death Care project, University of Antwerp she engages the public in these critical conversations.
Her solo exhibition Beyond the Body: A Portrait of Autopsy (2020–2023) was presented in academic and medical institutions across the UK, Belgium, Singapore, and South Africa. The project received recognition from the University of Oxford and was selected by the Wellcome Centre for Cultures and Environments of Health, in partnership with the WHO, to be shown at the UN City in Copenhagen to highlight the role of cultural narratives in shaping health outcomes.
Anna has been invited to lecture, run seminars, and lead workshops in both community and institutional settings. Most recently, she served as Artistic Director of Homage to the Departed (2023–2024), a curatorial and artistic project at the McGregor Museum in Kimberley, South Africa, which explored the ethics of displaying human remains. This culminated in exhibitions at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, Baltimore, and the Duggan-Cronin Gallery, Kimberley (2024).
Her work has been showcased in numerous international exhibitions and residencies, including in Taiwan, Norway, and Hong Kong. She is also the co-curator of Dreamscapes, a group exhibition celebrating contemporary surrealism.