Rm 921: Willea Zwey

Join us for a unique art viewing experience in Rm 921 at 21c Museum Hotel Chicago. On view is Willea Zwey’s projection Et Sic Videmus, a site-specific artwork created for Elevate: Rm 921. Projected onto a 48-foot wall, the piece is only viewable after dusk and from the windows of interior-facing 21c Chicago hotel rooms. For this special viewing, the artist will be present to discuss her project.

Please meet in the hotel lobby. Space is very limited; RSVP required.

Et Sic Videmus (And Thus We See) is a video installation that consists of multiple clips capturing the intersections of Chicago’s natural and built environments, with water as a central element. Formed by nature yet embedded in the city’s infrastructure, water shapes and is shaped by its surroundings—flowing through riverways, lakefronts, and engineered channels. Its fluidity mirrors the project’s core themes of ambiguity, transformation, and the tension between control and spontaneity.

Designed to showcase immersive and experiential moving-image work in response to the unique space, Elevate: Rm 921 addresses complex issues that shape our diverse and rapidly changing world.

Willea Zwey is a multidisciplinary artist based in Chicago, whose work blends architectural precision with imaginative storytelling. Guided by her background in architecture, she creates otherworldly scenes rich in detail, surreal elements, and expressive use of color. Her practice explores themes of memory, identity, and interconnectedness, crafting dynamic environments that resonate on both visual and emotional levels. Since entering the digital art world in 2021, Willea’s works have been exhibited internationally, including at Sotheby’s, The National Art Center Tokyo, Art Dubai, and Digital Art Fair, offering innovative perspectives that bridge reality and imagination.