Several dozen works by students of the ceramic sculpture studio at the Faculty of Sculpture of the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków can be viewed at the Museum of Ceramics in Bolesławiec. The exhibition presents works by artists including: Marcin Płoszaj, Katarzyna Szewczyk, Natalia Nowacka, Beata Ważny, Maria Rząca, Łukasz Pipczyński, Jerzy Dobrzański, Barbara Zgoda, Ewelina Wierzbicka, Weronika Gajda, Katarzyna Prusik, Zbigniew Blajerski, Piotr Bujak, Dorota Hadrian, Wojciech Batko, Dorota Barytowicz-Harpula, Karolina Krajcarz, Natalia Kopytko, Małgorzata Wojdyło, Anna Baranowska and Sławomir Biernat.
The exhibited works were created over the past several years. The selection of works ultimately included in the exhibition was made by Marita Benke-Gajda. “The idea behind this exhibition was to bring our academy and the museum together and to show Kraków in Bolesławiec,” the Kraków-based artist explains. “We do not dare compete with Bolesławiec’s experience,” emphasizes Czesław Dźwigaj, head of the ceramic sculpture studio. “This exhibition presents a somewhat different view of ceramics. We treat it as a sculptural material. It is not about technical or technological expression here; it is about a certain ideological message,” he adds.
The sculptures on display are very diverse. And this is hardly surprising. As Maria Rząca, an Academy of Fine Arts student, emphasizes: “ceramics is a material that allows you to make anything and achieve a variety of textures.” Two of the artist’s works can be seen at the Bolesławiec exhibition. Both are part of a cycle of portraits and self-portraits. “I am fascinated by portraiture,” the sculptor says. – “As realistic as possible, but at the same time going beyond the boundaries of realism.”
Among Weronika Gajda’s works is a series inspired by a walnut shell and a seashell. “Viewers interpret my works in very different ways, which makes me happy,” the artist told IstotneInformacje.pl. Ceramics has accompanied the young sculptor practically since birth. “My mother is a ceramic artist,” Weronika Gajda explains. At one point, she had doubts about whether she wanted to follow in her mother’s footsteps. “It came back on its own. I guess it couldn’t have been otherwise,” she adds. In her opinion, ceramics is a great material because it combines two fields of art: sculpture and painting.
The exhibition can be visited until 17 August.
(GA information)