Artist: Gizela Mickiewicz
Exhibition title: Shifting Views
Curated by: Jagna Lewandowska
Venue: SKALA Gallery, Poznan, Poland
Date: December 1, 2023 – February 29, 2024
Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and SKALA Gallery, Poznan
One does not usually think of a view as a constantly constructed phenomenon. It is not regarded as an intertwining of people, things and the physical qualities of a place with reflections and feelings. We overlook that a view is not given to us and is not completely external; that it doesn’t play out only in the here and now; that our experiences determine how we perceive our surroundings equally to the images deposited on our retinas. Current perspectives overlap with landscapes of the past, it only takes a gust of wind or a reflection of light on a rippling lake for us to shift our thoughts to other places and moments, further away, and then return, only to drift off again in different directions.
In recent months, Gizela Mickiewicz’s sculptures have also been on the move: they’ve been venturing out, leaving the confines of storage. They’ve been forming constellations, entering into relationships with each other, with nature, and with us. They’ve been reflected in natural shapes, duplicated other forms, and have been caringly worn and touched. In their holes and lenses, they’ve focused fragments of views; with their positioning, they’ve framed space and allowed it to permeate them. Still, the intentions of their creation continued to resonate strongly – the original objectives entered into a silent dialogue with the places where, for a shorter or longer moment, the works embedded themselves in a way that was unusual for them.
The exhibition “Shifting Views” is monographic, but at the same time, polyphonic. It works in many directions and planes at once. It is an environment, or perhaps a habitat, in which different temporalities and spaces mix freely, but instead of chaos, there is a soft distraction that is not far from attentiveness. It demonstrates the potential for both fascinating discoveries and a sense of being securely at home.
-Jagna Lewandowska
