The exhibition titled Osad [eng. sediment] comprises works that sit at the boundary of abstraction and representation, exploring themes of everyday life, inner worlds, transience, and memory. The amorphous titular matter serves not only as a thematic and metaphorical link for the exhibition but also operates on a formal level. From among the works of four artists represented by the Stereo, we selected pieces for which the phenomenon of particle settling is a key aspect.
Barbara Wesołowska’s paintings emerge through a process that is improvisational in its nature – open to chance, mistakes, and hesitations – in pursuit of the right emotional charge. The artist describes her practice as a reworking of the techniques of the so-called Old Masters, using traditional oil painting methods in a distinctly unorthodox way. As a result, Wesołowska’s works do not depict figures or scenes but rather spectres – human faces appearing within outlines of stains and paint drips – evoking an indistinct sense of someone’s presence.
Gizela Mickiewicz’s latest sculptures are based on impressions of rock surfaces taken with silicone patches. Natural textures form the matrix for molds, from which the artist then constructs three-dimensional objects – a kind of sculpted landscape. In brittle fossils, Mickiewicz finds a material equivalent of the passage of time. This effect is enhanced by the coloring method, with pigments scattered over the sculptures to mimic the layering of dust on natural surfaces and their corrosion.
At first glance, Tomasz Kręcicki’s new painting presents an abstract composition: a vertical cylinder contrasts against a blackboard-like canvas. However, the carefully organized elements serve a realistic purpose – the precisely cropped frame actually depicts a lint roller. The enlargement that achieves the abstract ‘illusion’ is countered on the painting’s surface with the use of real dust.
A recurring motif in Wojciech Bąkowski’s drawings is doors and windows, fitting for an artist exploring the boundary between inner life and the surroundings. Glass surfaces are treated as screens where reality blends seamlessly with visions. Paradoxically, sanded cardboard infused with coal dust proves to be an accurate medium. Bąkowski highlights how incidental and provisional our beliefs about reality are. A hiss of particles on magnetic tape.
