Lympha
The project "Lympha" was inspired by my grandfather's vintage stamp collection. It depicted a model of the world dominated by national prophets, great leaders, enlightened sages, scientists and artists. It reflected a social and cultural system in which men held a dominant position of power and women were marginalized. Commonly perpetuated images concealed a coded disparity and a multidimensional paradox.
Referring to the Jungian concept of human development, I draw attention to the need to find the balance through a combination of opposites. In Chinese philosophy, the female aspect is identified with darkness, coldness and the Moon, while the male aspect - with activity, warmth and the Sun. Complementing them is a holistic view of the forces acting in nature. Unlike Eastern culture, which seeks unity in the different, in Western culture dualism separates matter from spirit, reason from emotion, male from female, life from death. This separation promotes detachment from nature and weakens the well-being of both sexes. A body subjected to constant stress and difficult emotions succumbs to disease. The stereotypes, shame, anger and sadness are slowly poisoning the soul and body. This is countered by the female element. It is like lymph, which, unlike pumped blood, squeezes through the vessels using muscles. It circulates below the surface, affecting the immune system of the entire body. According to insightful Jungian Marion Woodman, this invisible force "The feminine side of our existence lives with a slower rhythm, is less rational. It moves with more spontaneity, is more open, accepts life as it is, without judgment".
The choice of technique was not accidental, in the cyanotype technique I find the poetry of the coexistence of duality. An image emerges from darkness through direct light. It is created without the use of a camera, one single and unique. Under the influence of the sun rays, the hand-prepared collage is written on the light-sensitive substance-coated paper. The artworks are varied; in the process of toning they gain a unique hue. Similarly, in pursuit of balance between
the opposing forces, through deconstruction and redefinition of the system of values, I see an opportunity for a world, which offers diversity and choice, rather than uniformity and necessity.
PhD Katarzyna Kalua Kryńska – Visual artist, photographer, architect. Member of the Association of Polish Art Photographers. Award-winning artist, lecturer in traditional and alternative photography at the Institute of Artistic Education at the Pedagogical University of Warsaw and The Academy of Photography in Dublin. Founder of the +ARTE Foundation. She serves on juries and her work is exhibited both in Poland and abroad and is included in private collections. Her series "Lympha" won first place in the Fine Art category at the Julia Margaret Cameron Awards 2023 in Barcelona.
Vernissage:
12.09.2024, 19:30
Opening hours
Tuesday, Thursday – 10:00-18:00
Wednesday, Friday – 12:00-20:00
Saturday, Sunday – 12:00-18:00