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Size 70 x 70 cm
Presented at the FINGERPRINTS solo exhibition.
The series was created in November 2021. As with each of my artworks, its creation was influenced by very strong emotions. This was related to the current very difficult political situation in Poland. The source of these emotions was the refugee conflict unfolding on the Polish-Belarusian border. The appearance of a large group of refugees at the border and the reactions of the Polish authorities, including their refusal to allow them into the country, often contradicted the prevailing standards for solving humanitarian problems. The feelings that led to the creation of this series were feelings of complete helplessness. The sense that this situation was unbearable. A loss of faith in the inherent goodness of people. A loss of faith that we can have a common goal, that we can create a community. The graphics do not show the forest, the wire, or the lost, weakening, and dying people. They depict hopelessness. A situation with no way out. The name of the series – ESCAPE – is not about escaping from the border forest. It is about the escape of a helpless person from the suffering brought by awareness, which they cannot bear.
The technique used to create these works is digital. I utilized renderings generated in a 3D modeling program and processed them using a raster graphics application. They are built from tiny dots. As if a drama were unfolding in each dot.
The works were presented in 2022 at the FINGERPRINTS exhibition as part of the 100/100 exhibitions at the Rotunda Gallery of UAP, Poznań. The exhibition was accompanied by the text:
ESCAPE
…in a time when you don’t need to read an article to burst into tears. A glance at the headline is enough. The tears flow on their own…
Emotions.
Every piece I create is tied to emotions. This applies to both my paintings and interior design projects. This one, too. It was born out of very strong emotions. Emotions I must escape from. Hide from. Hence the name of the series.
It is an escape to something:
- Honest.
- Without hypocrisy.
- Without lies.
- Without deceit.
- Without manipulation.
- Without disregard for others.
- Without immorality.
- Without contempt. Without a lack of respect for the work of others or the environment.
- Without theft.
- Without wastefulness.
- Without dishonesty.
- Without vandalism.
- Without violence.
- Without exploiting others.
- Without regressiveness.
- Without meanness.
It is an escape to virtuality. A drowning of sorrows. A search for solace.
The same foundation, multiple variations.
The same linocut, but different prints.
One stamp, hundreds of unique effects.
Fingerprints.
The same film, exposed differently.
Caught in a trap:
- Escape – bars. It is impossible.
- Escape – searchlights combing the forest at night.
- Escape – offering hope, only to strip it away.
- Escape – an illusion.
- Escape – darkness.
- Escape – a bony, mechanical beast,
- tightening its jaws,
- from which there is no escape.
To feel emotions, some people bungee jump. I am not one of them. All it takes is a glance at the headline… and I burst into tears.