Episode 1:
Thymn & Kasia
Videography & post-edition: Mikołaj Cempla, Pierre Duyker
Audio: Thymn Chase, Konrad Mosoń
Location: Raven Art Gallery, Kraków
“Where are you” (2020)
Charcoal on paper
Original 150×280 cm
“The work, big format drawing, was made mostly during quarantine time, and then showcased at the solo exhibition, “Thin Skin” at the Raven Art Gallery in Kraków.”
“It is part of a wider project based on some thoughts about the condition of the human body and its connection to the mind.”
“The body is a blank piece of paper, an empty vessel that life slowly fills.
The body remembers.
It saves. Accumulates.
Expands. Explores.
Exchanges. Exist.
Impresses. Implores.
Imagines. Insists.
Wounds, touch, words and time;
each engrave invisible stories – etchings of heartache and the sublime.”
Fragment of the text from the Auto-morph project.
Video VO:
The work is inspired by the idea that the memory of the flesh is independent of our cognitive selves. Throughout our lives, our body accumulates emotions, it learns and absorbs countless acts and gestures; it gives and is given – it takes and is taken.
We are constantly searching for our own identity, and the wisdom and memory stored in our body can help us find our true selves.
For me, painting is a way of creating a dialogue with reality. It is a key to understand the world and myself in it.
I try to follow nature which is the essence of a human being – diverse, powerful and ambivalent. I find balance between tangible and abstract things, realism and dreams, geometric and shapeless objects, but humanity is always at the centre of my search.
Painting, despite its limitations, is a perfect form of expression for me. It can express knowledge and emotions. A variety of experiences keep me from thinking about just one technique or aesthetic. I adjust the techniques and style of expression to the topic. I use various methods not just for experimentation’s sake, but to highlight the unevenness of the world. I thrive to express this in my paintings.
“Calling Out”
Intrument: Melodica
I had already conjured and composed sounds for the piece I wanted to perform, however the act of actually performing in front of the awe-in-spiring work instilled a new depth of emotion in the music I could hear and wanted to be heard.
Video VO:
When I first saw the finished artwork, I was immediately struck by the repetitiveness, the depth of emotion and fragility. I immediately gravitated towards the melodica, a seemingly delicate yet deeply powerful instrument; and as I started to play, the memory of one of my former song cycles began calling out to be heard.
“It was pretty early into quarantine when I remember seeing Kasia roll out a large piece of paper and tack it to the back wall of her studio. I get excited when she starts throwing up large format canvases because it usually means she has something exceptional planned. And I was right!”
“This epic masterpiece revealed itself slowly over several months and the intricate patchwork of interlocking female forms became increasingly hypnotic and repetitive. I became increasingly intrigued as to how many layers it might have and how many metaphors might be trapped inside its pencilled silhouettes.”
“Even though I literally lived through the inception and birth of the work, I didn’t actually have a chance to look at the finished drawing myself until after I went to record the Soundscapes project at the Raven Gallery.”
Special thanks to Zofia Kruk.
Raven Art Gallery Kraków
www.raven.krakow.pl
Photos Courtesy of Katarzyna Adamek-Chase
