inspirations

I have always been enthralled with water as an artistic material. This fascination was caused by my childhood memories and the summers spent at the Zegrze Reservoir.

Now, in retrospect, I think that some of those memories (as well as very close contact with nature) had a colossal impact on my unique way of perceiving the world. It was only over the years that I could recognise this influence. I was thinking about the origins of my passion for water, the need to observe it, be in contact with water. I immediately remembered these beautiful carefree years spent among the forest vegetation, greenery of waterside bushes, sometimes turning into wetlands and mud, the characteristic smell of heated soil and that specific scent of lake piercing through the air. Insects flying by, vibrancy of dragonflies, lightness of butterflies, croaking frogs, shoals of tiny fish escaping from the bigger ones… Sitting on the lake shore with a fishing rod I would watch the water surface, see fish at the bottom, shoals swirling in a dignified manner. My attention was also drawn by the sky reflected in the water, with all the benefits of its colours, streaks and clouds changing over time. I focused on the lines and wheels drawn by insects crossing the reflections, special attention paid to the float cast with my spells to kindly dip into the water of the lake. These echoes of youth, although far away, will stay in me for the rest of my life. They all resurface today. Although my memories are residual, they are extremely real and inspiring. Perception and these inspirations played a key role in the search of my own graphic means of expression.  

I am convinced that these factors shape our personality. It can be said that memories were the driving force pushing me to create. Inspiration. What is inspiration? According to Dictionary of the Polish language, it is a revelation. That would be it, as it is difficult to determine this unique state of mind and soul. It can be an idea, an influence coming from someone or something, it can also be a suggestion. Latin inspiratio means inspiration, and it in turn comes from inspirare – blow, inspire, instill. Inspiration can come from everywhere. This means that everything, and at the same time also nothing, can inspire you. Inspiration, however, is not the only prerequisite to create a work of art. Pablo Picasso very aptly described it, saying that

„Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working”.

One could say that inspiration is the driving force of all human activities. In the Socratic dialogue ‘Republic’, Plato famously wrote:

“our need will be the real creator”

which was moulded over time into the proverb “necessity is the mother of invention”. I would be tempted to say that it is inspiration that is the mother of invention. It has been driving human existence since the dawn of history, pushing humanity forward in various directions, at times even the dangerous ones. Inspiration, however, does not distinguish between the concepts of good vs. evil. By inspiration needed for artistic creativity I mean its humanistic realm. In my case, my memories, thoughts and the very inspiration coming from the world of nature sparked the desire to shape my own personal means of expression. A sign processed by my imagination, passing through the prism of my own memories and knowledge.  

The result of my fascinations and reflections regarding nature took shape of the series of serigraphs entitled Aquarium, which was presented at the Oranżeria Contemporary Art Gallery in Jabłonna in 2018. In these graphics I wanted to convey my great passion for nature. The series was created from the desire to create so-called natural countries on individual graphic works where the residents that populate those countries are fish-like creatures. These design and style of the creatures reflected specific countries. Visual elements from culture, economics, geography and politics — all of them constituted a resident of a given graphic work. I also wanted to weave in my favourite motive — namely my passion for aquarium, this natural creation of the underwater world — into the artwork. I was inspired by the work of the Japanese artist Takashi Amano, who was the undisputed precursor and creator of Aquascaping. What is Aquascaping? In short it s the craft of arranging aquatic plants, as well as rocks, stones, cave work, or driftwood, in an aesthetically pleasing manner within an aquarium—in effect, gardening under water. Driving around the world, photographing the wildest corners of the globe, Amano came up with the idea to recreate these unusual places in glass tanks. He used carefully selected species of plants and animals. Everything had to be in perfect sync. Fish became the background. They were only complementing the composition, and the main constituents filling the arrangements were plants, tree trunks, branches and various types of rocks. Everything had its own place and was based on certain arrangements related to the golden ratio. The arrangements also included principles of Japanese philosophy. The artist distinguished a few styles of arrangement: ryuboku, mizube, iwagumi and ragwork. Some were dominated by the rocks, in other plants complemented by branches of trees, while the others were only populated with plants. One could say that it was a process of natural artistic creation where the means of expression was actual living matter. This peculiar kind of water gardening helped me find a part of myself and my communing with nature. Although these are just individual frames from my early childhood, I still clearly remember how my mother grew parsley on a saucer with water. It looked like a miniature island with a tree in the middle. It etched in my memory. Now I think I understand why I like nature, greenery and water in their aesthetic appeal so much. Currently, I have several aquarium arrangements at home and I must admit that it is a huge source of inspiration for me. It is also an undeniable centre of relaxation and peace. When I was creating a series of graphic artworks entitled Interpretations of Olympic Disciplines Tokyo 2021 and Interpretations of Winter Olympic Disciplines Beijing 2022 I was inspired by Far Eastern art in a broad sense of the word. Work on the first series stemmed from my fascination with the 18th-century coloured woodcut prints of the Ukiyo-e Movement. The works of artists such as Utamaro Kitagawa, who immortalized impressions from the world of beautiful Japanese women dressed in kimonos, or woodblock prints of the Masters of illustration Harunobu Suzuki and Moronobu Hishikawa ignited a special kind of creative spark. However, it was the works of Hokusai Katushika and Hiroshige Ando that inspired me the most. 

Simplicity, clarity of vision of beautiful layers, delicate tonal transitions and masterful composition reduced to only a few yet very accurate elements. Watching Hiroshige’s woodcuts of landscapes shown throughout different seasons of the year with their expression of the weather and its changeability, one gets the impression that the artist paused the film and chose this particular still frame to present the mood of the moment, trails of rain, and a group of people seeking shelter from the rain, struggling with the elements. In another frame, on the other hand, we find specks of white fluff, decorating the composition like delicate flecks of white ink that decorate the composition. They sweep over the plane of the navy blue sky. There are also beautiful yet lightly marked trees and huts somewhere in the distance, and a group of people in the foreground. When you look at this scene, you have a feeling of frosty air surrounding this captivating land. Hokusai Katsushika art mesmerized me with his vision of water. The legendary The Great Wave off Kanagawa, reprinted on so many everyday items and frequently appearing in all the media available today, made Japan famous on every continent. It has become a kind of symbol, even some sort of a showcase. Yoshitsune Falls, from the series Famous Waterfalls in Various Provinces impresses with a very original style. Watercourses spreading along abstract planes of green meandering like snakes that quickly run away somewhere down… These images became the inspiration for creating a series of graphic artworks dedicated to the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. We know that countless socio-cultural activities of mankind originated from observing nature. Sport has also, in many cases, been modelled on the observation of animals, for example when inventing body moves and sequences in martial arts. I tried the same process when designing graphics. Using a selected, observed fragment of nature transposed through my imagination and implemented as a source for the world of tension, speed, competition and expression of movements. Curved lines, straight lines, crossing lines, bending lines, all creating planes that shape my world of sports. A cyclist, a discus thrower and a judoka emerging from an oceanof swirl. The second series of graphics entitled Interpretations of Winter Olympic Disciplines Beijing 2022 was the creative result of my fascination with the Far East. The word Calligraphy means the art of beautiful and clear handwriting, sometimes gaining artistic ornamentation as well. The process of long, arduous and patient work on shaping fonts was largely a contribution to forging human character. However, in China calligraphy was not only a technique of beautiful writing, but treated a sign as a pretext to achieve the intended artistic impression. We can observe the process of transforming the semantic character of writing into a purely aesthetic form. This is most evident during the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. – 220 A.D.) – the period which experts refer to as the golden age of Chinese history. At that time, for the first time, calligraphic writing began to transform into something more than just a semantic form. It became a way of communicating artistic expression. Its content fades away giving way to a very delicate painting that emerges from handwriting. The artist transfers his state of mind to paper or silk with a brush of ink, his creation inspired by the experience of surrounding nature. The painting becomes infused with poetry. In a way, it transforms into a commentary on the artist’s mood and feelings. The resulting work was a synthesis of three arts: painting, calligraphy and poetry. Cinnabar seal would immediately inform us who created the painting and who was its next owner. The principles of this art were beautifully described by Cai Yong in the second century AD in his treatise on calligraphy:

“The appearance of the marked sign should allow us to recognize the feelings it contains, the happy or sad thoughts it evokes. Sometimes the sign should be like a bird that flies away. Sometimes like swords crossing akin to arrows in flight. Sometimes like thunderstorms, like volcanoes murmuring menacingly, other times like passing clouds or shining stars. Finally, each sign should reflect the proper personality of some being or object. This is what you can call calligraphy.”