Collide, 2021

Ink on paper – 262 x 189 mm

Bónyai Barbara’s Collide / Becsapódik is an expressive and stylized ink drawing that presents a condensed visual narrative reflecting contemporary social and global conflicts. The composition depicts several interconnected violent clashes on a single pictorial plane: in the foreground, two aggressively distorted human faces confront each other – visual metaphors for individual-level verbal or psychological confrontations as well as wartime conflicts. Behind them, two vehicles collide head-on, symbolizing technological failures and the fast-paced, collision courses of modern life.

In the upper region of the composition, urban and cosmic spaces merge in the background: rows of panel buildings stretch along the horizon, above which a meteor is depicted moments before impact with Earth, closing the vertically charged tension of the scene. Through this layered structure, the artwork superimposes personal, social, technological, and ecological crises, evoking various types of conflicts at the intersection of micro- and macro-worlds.

With the stark contrast of black ink and a poster-like yet autonomous graphic language, the work transcends mere illustration to become an analytical and critical visual statement. Bónyai simultaneously employs illustrative imagery and the reflexive language of contemporary fine art to visually grasp the nature of increasingly intertwined crises.