“Moment of Eternity” is a bas-relief depicting 49 ceramic portraits of the faces of Bolesławiec residents. In the artist’s concept, it is intended to encourage reflection on the passing of time.
The young artist from Bolesławiec, who has recently become fascinated with the passion of creating in clay, described the origins of his project as follows.
“In making my work, I wanted to refer to the passing of time, which nevertheless flows equally and constantly for every person,” says Mariusz Potyszka. “On the bas-relief, we find people as young as 20 as well as those around 70. The idea is to visit the bas-relief years later with one’s grandchild and show them a small representation of one’s physical form from many years ago. I tried to preserve this physical form on a medium such as clay, which can survive for thousands of years,” the artist adds.
BOK – MCC became a haven for Mr. Potyszka, where he could pursue his ceramic experiments. Last year, he took part in the “Under the Eye of the Masters” project. Amateur artists had the opportunity to develop their creative skills by drawing on the experience of ceramic sculptors participating in the 56th Ceramic and Sculpture Symposium in Bolesławiec.
The artist’s work reveals extraordinary passion and unstoppable determination. It was precisely these qualities that led to the completion of the project, whose result can now be seen in the space of our cultural centre. The bas-relief, suspended in the passage between two columns, catches the attention of passers-by, as if encouraging them to pause for a moment of reflection amid the pursuit of fleeting values. The large number of Bolesławiec residents who took part in the project, and its display in the urban interior, inevitably evoke associations with Sharon Zukin’s mysticism of public culture and the idea of a cultural community. For what, if not culture, should build and sustain this human urban community?