The artist’s creative exploration aims to use artistic means to create an intriguing portrait form oscillating between abstraction and figurative art. This type of representation refers to a complex neurological disorder called face agnosia—a lack of knowledge that, through appropriate perceptual processes, allows the viewer to see the solution: a portrait. Face agnosia, also known as face blindness or prosopagnosia, is a condition involving an impaired ability to recognize faces. People with this condition recognize their individual parts but cannot assemble them into a coherent whole. In extreme cases, they do not know what a face actually is (amorphous agnosia).
Łukasz Gierlak graduated from I Liceum Ogólnokształcące in Jawor and the Visual Advertising School in Świdnica. He is a graduate of the Faculty of Graphic Arts and Media Art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław. He received his diploma with distinction in 2013. He studied in the studios of Prof. W. Lupa and Ł. Huculak, PhD. He completed his diploma work in the Lithography Laboratory under the supervision of Prof. P. Frąckiewicz and in the Graphic Design Studio of Prof. J.J. Aleksiun. From 2009 to 2011, he studied professional drawing under Prof. E. Get-Stankiewicz. His diploma series, “Face Agnosia,” received the Mayor of Gdańsk’s award at the 2013 Best Diplomas competition in Gdańsk, as well as an honorable mention for his diploma work at his alma mater.
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