Art and nature will always struggle with each other until they overcome each other and triumph, drawing the same lines that are conquered and conquer at the same time.
– Maria Sibylla Merian (b. 1647, artist, explorer of nature, traveller and pioneer of entomology)
“The project BOTANICAL PAINTING WORKSHOP – Triumph of Immateriality emerged out of the need to continue my nature inspired activities in the visual arts. It is a continuation of Locus Amoenus, an action intended to revive the idea of open-air painting workshops in the green space of Wrocław.
My fascination with the soothing effect of vegetation, coupled with a great need to explore nature after my separation with it due to the pandemic, triggered in me the need to return to the garden motif in my work. Whereas previously I approached the theme mainly by analysing an idea or archetype, since my last project Locus Amoenus I have put more emphasis on creating in the direct presence of nature.
The project BOTANICAL PAINTING WORKSHOP – Triumph of Immateriality is based on the idea of establishing a painting studio in a gallery space. It assumes direct contact with the viewer and the process of exchanging experiences.
The central motif of the exhibition and the main object of painting will be a green installation in the Krupa Gallery space titled Living Still Life, inspired by the baroque motif of vanitas in Flanders and Dutch painting.
With its refined arrangement and tasteful composition, the lavish installation will be subjected to the natural processes of growth and decay, never to remain the same.
In this way, we gain the opportunity to observe the transformation of one form into another, the flowering, withering or even death. The ongoing metamorphosis on display will become a triumph of the invisible forces at work in both nature and art.
The installation consists of potted plants, cut plants and mycelium with spores”.
– Monika Konieczna
As a teacher of Visual Structures at the Academy of Art and Design in Wrocław, Monika Konieczna has for the past six years invited students to keep Visual Notebooks in which they record their observations of various forms in the natural space, the changing light and colour, in search of different ways of representing them. By experiencing the omnipresence of nature impulses, they learn to consciously manage and select visual stimuli. When the eye and brain have to make a quick selection from multiple impulses, creative work follows a completely different course than when working under “controlled” conditions.
As part of the BOTANICAL PAINTING WORKSHOP – Triumph of Immateriality project, the artist invites the audience to her temporary studio at Krupa Gallery, where, surrounded by a vegetal installation, the visitors can not only watch the artist at work, but also join her in the creative process.
We warmly invite you to the plant-filled space arranged by the artist, where you will be able to contemplate nature, relax and create together.
Five painting easels, sheets of paper and pencils are available on site.
You are welcome to bring your own painting utensils: canvases, cards, paints, etc.