Botanicus, 2013-2015

At the end of the 2012 I decided to undertake one of the projects which I had been postponing for a long time. The project concerns, among other things, the issue of freeing graphical and pictorial forms from the picture’s plain into three-dimensional space. The pictorial traces of a tool (paintbrush, spatula, card etc.) were designed by so that they could be associated with certain spatial forms (plants, gems, crystals, organisms). The first series of such illustrations was accomplished in 2002 and since then these themes have been reappearing in my drawings and paintings over the years. In 2004 I undertook the attempt to cut the forms painted on paper, but it was no sooner than 2011 when the idea of freeing or detaching paint from the painting was developed into the work which I presented in the art gallery .

While undertaking that issue again I decided to conduct an experiment lasting several years in order to let the flat traces be created and developed into semi and fully spatial structures. These structures are supposed to have features of pictorial illusion interconnected by the real, spatial form. Such fusion includes many possible variations.

The experiment is extended by the constant growth of elements as well as accumulating of subsequent productions and experiences. In 2013 the project was named “Botanicus” and until the end of that year around 500 small and big as well as flat and spatial elements were created. Their form, which comes out from the pictorial gesture, is inspired not only by the world of plants but it also acquires features characteristic of animal organisms. What is significant here is certain indeterminacy and uncertainty of the spectator which concerns the kind of phenomenon or unknown form they are dealing with. The individual objects which have their own formal values eventually function as the elements of the greater completeness. They are laid in complex, multi-element flat and spatial structures. This is the aspect connected with the ‘shoal theme’ which I used in my numerous paintings. These structures can be mounted as art installations in various setups and formats depending on the place of presentation.