Gizela Mickiewicz at Stereo

The title of Gizela Mickiewicz’s exhibition seems perverse. After all, it consists of a group of sculptures displayed simply, full of light and without any arrangement procedures. However, in this case, the title is not so much a denominator as it complements the set of objects – it could be the title of a work that is missing from the exhibition itself. Borrowed from the dictionary of interior design, this ready-made expression, taken out of context, acquires a poetic ambiguity and serves nicely as a metaphor. Mickiewicz uses ready-made objects in a similar way, anchoring her latest works in material reality. A knitted sweater, radiator ribs, shoes, a seat frame or a car seatbelt are used in accordance with their original function and yet they communicate much more.

Mickiewicz is an artist interested in inner life, but her work is not confessional in nature. Instead, it is driven by the need to generalise and mutualise. Focused on creating physical sculptural equivalents of mental states, in her latest exhibition, she distinguishes stress, fear and anxiety – feelings that are usually unvoiced and intrinsic. Mickiewicz, therefore, is looking for community in situations that are quite elusive and complex. She is also interested in how feeling translates into bodily gesture and movement, in how body position communicates an internal state. Such observations are the starting point for works that are formulated in their own original language and extremely saturated with content. You can almost read them, and that’s how they make sense – by relating to your own experiences and perceptions and understanding their meaning.