The format is growing. It’s still taking me to more and more space. This time I wanted something really big! The decision about the format is crucial because I also have to think about the mobility of the work, that is, its ability to move from the studio to the exhibition, and maybe even to a potential collector?
And I don’t want to rent a low-bay chassis with a fork and remote control. The work is to consist of modules for easy disassembly for transport in the trunk of a standard car and then for easy assembly at the destination. And that’s it. The 4 boards with a format of 130 x 87 cm folded in a square gave a size of 260 x 174 cm. This is the space. Unquestionably!
Moving into space is like going out of port to sea.
From the bustling port I go out to sea and after a while I am surrounded by space, multicoloured and multi-temperature. And there is nothing else. However, no! There is something else that is most important! There is light. It’s light that determines the temperature of space, it’s depth and colour. Light is everything. How do you transfer it to the image? The light that falls on the painting must be consistent with the painted one. They must want to talk to each other. And they must want to talk to each other at any time of day or night. They have a right to be different. There is not one time and there is not one light. This is the right thing to do, and that’s the way it should be. If I can’t get away from it, I have to strive for it.
The characteristics of space are the aura, i.e. the effect of light, the missing dimension, the depth to infinity. A simultaneous feeling of closeness and distance. Reality – nothing is as it seems to be. It is neither the universe nor the depth of the sea, therefore there are no stars or sun reflections seen through the prism of water. Space is only the depth of meditation. The objects that appear here have no dimension. When a dimension appears, space disappears. It is replaced by a landscape. I make a very clear distinction between space and landscape.
What does the port mean to me? A harbour is a lively, expressive place, full of fragments of conversations and situations, full of gestures and emotions… completely different images. But to be on the sea, you have to be in the port. So I go out to sea and I come back. And I’m here once and there once.
The large format is fantastic for at least two reasons. It immediately arouses admiration (as if the artist’s measure were square meters?) and gives me a lot of movement and even quite demanding gymnastics…
Jan (Pruski) wants to leave me at this space. “Paint more, plan an exhibition! May every next painting be at least a little better”. Jan, should I become a craftsman of a single painting because it seemed beautiful to me? Practice it to perfection and tiredness? Until he runs out of energy? Energy is the most important thing for me. Just stay in the space and forget the landscape?