Ghosts and Guardians marks the Swiss debut of ceramicist Debra Broz (Seattle) and painter Máté Orr (Budapest / Sicily) at Galeria Soon in Zürich.

Ghosts and Guardians
Artist: Debra Broz and Máté Orr
9 October - 1 November 2025
Galerie Soon,  Zürich

Ghosts and Guardians marks the Swiss debut of ceramicist Debra Broz (Seattle) and painter Máté Orr (Budapest / Sicily). Rarely exhibited in Europe, Broz joins Orr, who presents in Switzerland following recent shows in London and Madrid. Galerie Soon brings together two practices that transform the familiar into the strange. Orr’s human–animal encounters and Broz’s reconfigured figurines both disrupt comfort and certainty, balancing humor with unease. In dialogue, their works reveal how playful subversions can unravel cultural myths, exposing the complexity beneath the surfaces of tradition, memory, and everyday objects.

Debra Broz (debrabroz.com) creates sculptures that twist cultural norms and create new narratives meant to express delight in the uncanny, sentimental, and absurd. About the works exhibited she says: “In this series of work I combine vintage ceramic animal and human figurines, creating fabricated artifacts that seem to have come from a parallel timeline. Decorative objects that were once pervasive in middle-class homes are reimagined to be subtly uncanny. These alterations generate a confused nostalgia for a time that never existed, and surprise, or perhaps even horror, that the version of history I present is not the beautiful and perfect vision of dominant culture one might hold in their mind’s eye.”

Broz grew up in rural Missouri and received her BFA with honors from Maryville University - St. Louis in 2003. Shortly thereafter, she moved to Austin, Texas where she trained as a ceramics restorer and began using ceramic figurines in her art practice. Broz moved to Los Angeles in 2014, and then to Seattle,
Washington in 2022. She has shown her work with multiple galleries and museums including the American Museum of Ceramic Art, Austin Museum of Art, and Houston Center for Contemporary Craft. Her work has been featured in print in Ceramics Monthly, American Craft, and Frankie magazines; in a number of
online publications; and in two international surveys of contemporary ceramics. In addition to her art practice, Broz owns a ceramics restoration business; has served as a board member and advisor for art nonprofits in Austin and Los Angeles; and has been involved with several artist-run spaces over the course of her career. She lives in Seattle with her partner, dog and cat.

Máté Orr (mateorr.net) is both a graphic design and fine arts graduate. His style unites traditional oil painting with contemporary digital methods, working with vector graphics in Adobe Illustrator or creating preliminary drawings in Photoshop before painting everything by hand on the canvas. His work is characterized by the combination of 2D silhouette-like 'notan formulations' with 3D 'chiaroscuro' details. Through his work, Orr captures timeless elements of human nature and interpersonal dynamics. He invites viewers into often uncomfortable dialogues, opening space for conversations about the inner worlds we tend to suppress as individuals or societies. Using painting as both mirror and catalyst, he encourages reflection on the symbols, dynamics, and layered meanings within each image.
Born in 1985 in Eastern Europe, Máté Orr blends digital vector graphics with traditional oil painting to create worlds that are both playful and charged with deep anxiety. Growing up in rural Hungary in the 1990s, he experienced a culture where emotional struggles—especially men’s mental health and psychological
dynamics—were rarely discussed. From an early age, Orr found that he could respond to the complexities of his environment by exploring themes such as fear, resistance, and control through mixed-methods in experimental and contemporary art practices.
About his latest paintings he says: “What unites these paintings, for me, is a tension between toughness and vulnerability. The crocodiles’ hard scales and razor-sharp teeth are in contrast with their innocent play around the fountain or the muscles of the man with being pushed helplessly into a hole by two fragile waterbirds. I am especially drawn to expressions of vulnerability because this quality runs counter to the control traditionally expected of men. Yet I see it as essential—for seeing our true selves without denial. An honest self-understanding is the foundation for intimacy in relationships, resilience in the face of setbacks, and, ultimately, a more balanced emotional life. The emotional dynamics within these scenes are my way of redefining vulnerability not as weakness, but as a profound strength.”