Saturday,
18 January
Sylwia Owczarek’s exhibition “Retrospective signposts” is a part of the Audience Award “A-Cumulation 2023, Kalisz Biennale of Art.”
Sylwia Owczarek “Retrospective signposts”
For a house to become real, it must have a clear, composition of its borders. There are also fences next to the walls. The borders repeat themselves and define circles of what is known and spaces that are increasingly alien. In this way, we can define the border of the nest as our own fence, the cartographic end of the village and city, or the border of the country. Prehistoric metaphors of femininity referred to protection, upbringing, within certain boundaries. Not yet a literal house, but a nest, a cradle, or a mountain in which to hide, connected the allegorical womb and the physical cave.
The subconscious perception of oneself and one’s home as the center, outside of which what is dangerous and terrifying remains, was born from this original marking of territory. Home is not just a place to stay, it provides a sense of belonging, creates identity, and resonates with the presence of the members of the household. We create it by locating emotions related to objects and people – just like in an artistic work, we meet ourselves in it. In societies where the need for family has evolved, identification with a place is so strong that family is interchangeably called home.
In order for a home in the family sense to come true, the presence of household members is required, coordinated and subordinated to each other. It is united by a system of rituals, largely taken from ancestors. Renè König believes that the nature of rituals contains inhibition that inscribes us into a social culture where restrictions give us a sense of security[1]. At the same time, they cause tensions in the division of responsibilities, when setting one’s own boundaries or building an individual identity. The rules in the home are based on authority, which at the stage of strong dependence on parents results in forced subordination and adaptation. Even in adulthood, our identity without the foundation of home is extremely fragile, which is why we spend a lot of energy idealizing childhood. Sometimes two separate needs collide: conscious rejection of utopia and simultaneous immersion in it.
In the exhibition I explore both of them. I selected and illustrated specific memories: intensely felt by me, and shaping my story.
[1] R. König, Potęga i urok mody [orig. title Macht und Reiz der Mode: Verständnisvolle Betrachtungen eines Soziologen, translated by Janina Szymańska], pp. 165-166
SYLWIA OWCZAREK – born in 1987. She grew up in the Greater Poland village of Chełmce, which influenced her sense of identity and contemporary artistic choices. She graduated in ceramics from the High School of Fine Arts in Kalisz and started studies at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, majoring in painting. She continued her education at The Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design in Wroclaw, where she obtained her doctorate in art in 2022. She exhibits her works in Poland and abroad, including Japan, Germany, Sweden, Latvia and Slovakia. Lecturer and educator, professionally associated with the Wrocław Contemporary Museum.
Exhibition duration Mar 14 – Apr 19 2024
Opening Mar 14, 7 P.M.
Meet the author session: 8 P.M.
Free admission
CULTURE INSTITUTION OF KALISZ
pl. św. Józefa 5
62-800 Kalisz Poland
Gallery Partners:
GRUPA Mo, SCHIMMEL Pianos, POLIFARB KALISZ S.A., M&P Alkohole Wina Cygara
Media patronage:
RADIO POZNAŃ, CALISIA.PL, RADIO CENTRUM, ZIEMIA KALISKA