Pawel Kuczynski
A sampling of work by Pawel Kuczynski. (Via Instagram)

If you’re feeling saddled by an addiction to technology, perhaps especially since the arrival of Pokémon Go, a recent illustration by Polish artist Pawel Kuczynski has tapped into that feeling in a subtle and depressingly beautiful way. And it serves as a jumping off point to discovering more of his work that explores our connection to technology.

The Pokémon piece, called “Control,” features a yellow Pickachu character riding on the neck of a head-down gamer, reins coming from the boy’s mouth as he stares at his phone screen.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BIXb2LnDtcq/?taken-by=pawel_kuczynski1

People staring at their phones is hardly a new phenomenon, but for the past month or so, the popular consensus seems to be that anyone engaged in the pastime is surely hunting Pokémon now.

On his Facebook page, Kuczynski promotes the sale of prints and T-shirts featuring the artwork.

“It’s a hot subject now. It’s not my best drawing and it’s not my best idea. It’s just my response to the big success of Pokémon,” Kuczynski told The Creators Project.

While much of Kuczynski’s work deals in political commentary as diverse as war, animal cruelty and environmentalism, we’re most interested in the pieces which make a statement about social media, gaming and our reliance on devices.

Take a look at this selection from his Instagram account:

https://www.instagram.com/p/88K7bOFdd1/?taken-by=pawel_kuczynski1

https://www.instagram.com/p/88bH2elde_/?taken-by=pawel_kuczynski1

https://www.instagram.com/p/88bu4-ldQa/?taken-by=pawel_kuczynski1

https://www.instagram.com/p/BB1_0WdFdcR/?taken-by=pawel_kuczynski1

https://www.instagram.com/p/BCnCiwTFdc6/?taken-by=pawel_kuczynski1

https://www.instagram.com/p/BG9IWOkldaW/?taken-by=pawel_kuczynski1

https://www.instagram.com/p/BGopcSPldbx/?taken-by=pawel_kuczynski1

https://www.instagram.com/p/BHXfEWjjJxS/?taken-by=pawel_kuczynski1

https://www.instagram.com/p/BIVrCS1DcRx/?taken-by=pawel_kuczynski1

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