Justyna Adamczyk

An installation consisting of several drawing and painting series, it combines the meaning of portraits from the series entitled "Breathe through your nose and keep your mouth closed", miniature "Okruszki" and ceramic objects entitled "Swamp flowers." It is a kind of gallery of accessible experiences that you collect throughout your life. Stories that we, the viewers, will most likely never learn about, have been translated into the canvas. Similarly, the people who were portrayed in this diary. They remain anonymous. After all, this is the result of looking for a positive attitude. Recorded process of violent tearing, shattering and fragmentation. In this series, Justyna Adamczyk does not reject the past. I do not cut myself off from her. However, I try not to scratch the wounds anymore, but to look at them as if they were souvenirs. Like photos from the past that are collected throughout life to be included in an album, and eventually become a pale reminder of something that used to be important.

A series of four objects, referring to the well-known hunting trophies. Each hunter treats them with greater or lesser affection. In the hunting tradition, however, there is a conviction that what has been taken out of the forest should be honored. Justyna Adamczyk refers to this tradition in her works, who also here emphasizes the relationship between human life and suffering, as well as the role played in it by both the torturer and the victim.

"Don't forget to remember me" is a site-specific installation, which means that it was adapted to the exhibition at the OP ENHEIM gallery, where it is located in a suitably prepared space. This large-format composition consists of ceramic objects of various sizes placed in the center of the room. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ This work has been an attempt to find its own language, a form through which it decorates, aestheticizes and tames suffering, trying to reflect the changes that occur with slowly healing wounds. Ultimately, the entire installation has close to 3000 elements.

The latest work, which was prepared for the needs of the Wrocław exhibition, ends in a way of taming pain and loss. Braids braided in an abstract form become a kind of a totem in which strength accumulates. Especially that the braid is a symbol of strength and vitality. Interestingly, it consists of three weaves that were supposed to symbolize the past, present and future. The braid, according to ritual beliefs, was to be placed in the middle of the back to fill the spine with life forces and ward off evil. The long braid was supposed to be a sign of the inner strength of a woman. In this work, the artist also refers to the symbolism of the kolutno, which was associated mainly with illness in Polish rural rituals. According to folk beliefs, every person had some hidden ailments inside, which at the moment of their "poking" brought the disease to life. This, in turn, is manifested by twisting and sticking hair. However, the tangle could not be removed immediately after recovery. He had to stay in his hair until he reached maturity, which is from a few months to two years. Cutting it too early could have severe consequences for the owner, including blindness. His removal was an activity of a strong ritual character ”*. With the help of this object, Justyna Adamczyk gets rid of her pain disease, at the same time enchanting her strength in it. Totem becomes a magical item that gives you the power to face adversities. * Anna Figiel, The symbolism of hair in Polish folk culture, [in:] "Zeszyty Wiejskie", issue XXIII, 2017, p. 132

All of the resulting series of drawings form a separate story. They are also part of a larger, comprehensive project entitled Tell Me Stories, which the artist has been working on since 2007. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The series dedicated to NFT, began in 2022. Here, Justyna Adamczyk creates new shades of each of the existing drawings, giving them a completely new, more expanded and universal overtone. Breathless_People is a unique series of collectible NFT tokens that were created using the Ethereum blockchain. ___ LP/ / http://breathlesspeople.com