The works presented as part of the “Maps of Bodies” exhibition comprise several ceramic paintings created under the 2015 creative scholarship of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, as well as several selected paintings created between 2011 and 2014. The works on display are united by the theme of the human figure, presented in various arrangements and perspectives. These works express a subjective fascination with the human body and demonstrate the beauty hidden in every part of it, referring to corporeality in the broadest sense.
Contemporary culture places the beauty of the body, its flawlessness and perfection above all else, making it one of the greatest and most important values. For this reason, people try to beautify and perfect it at any cost, often creating an identical mass and an expressionless shell. In doing so, they discard what is most beautiful in the body: diversity of character, naturalness, and the experiences and signs of the passage of time inscribed upon it. The ceramic paintings demonstrate the beauty hidden precisely in imperfections, reveal the allure of what at first glance appears ugly and unaesthetic, and transform shortcomings into a mastery of shapes and forms. The exhibition’s intention is to invite viewers to embark on a journey through the human body, to discover and explore it by following the clues and signs that gather on its surface, and to attempt to perceive the beauty hidden in every corner of it. The exhibition is open until 22 May 2016.
Weronika Surma graduated with distinction from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw in 2013. She is currently a doctoral student in the Department of Ceramics at the E. Geppert Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław. She works mainly with ceramics, creating ceramic paintings in which she seeks to combine drawing with painting and sculpture.
Created as part of a scholarship from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage.
