No Longer Prey

Imagine standing in a room filled entirely with rabbits—one hundred of them, each staring back at you. The space tightens. Movement slows. A quiet unease settles in. 

Rabbits, often understood as symbols of vulnerability and prey, appear here transformed. Through scale, repetition, and density, individual figures merge into a collective presence—no longer passive, but quietly confrontational. 

As viewers move through the installation, familiar power dynamics begin to shift. The body becomes acutely aware of itself in space: watched, measured, implicated. The assumed position of power and control begins to erode. The familiar hierarchy between viewer and subject dissolves, replaced by a quiet, persistent tension. This work transforms fragility into force. It considers how power is constructed, how it is felt, and what happens when it is redistributed across a collective body. Rooted in personal experience, the installation moves toward a reclamation of agency—where vulnerability is no longer a condition of weakness, but a site of resistance. 

Kara Zuzu (Zupancic) is a Pittsburgh-based ceramic sculptor whose practice spans large-scale, installation-driven work and small, intimate pieces. Drawing on the natural world, storytelling, and lived experience, she uses animal forms as symbolic vessels to explore the human experience. Through scale, repetition, and spatial awareness, her installations position viewers within shared and sometimes unsettled perspectives. 

Zuzu earned a BA in Studio Art and Art Education from Saint Vincent College and an MA in Art Education from Edinboro University. After more than a decade as an arts educator, she transitioned to full-time studio practice in 2020. 

She has developed her practice through residencies and advanced mentorships, including the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, a three-year advanced mentorship at Anderson Ranch Arts Center, and an artist residency at Northern Clay Center. Zuzu is a recipient of the Laura Ziegler Participation Scholarship Award, an Anonymous Artist Fellowship, and multiple Pittsburgh-based artist grants.