Individual show at 81º Gallery in Warsaw
Nightshade fruits (Atropa belladonna) have been medicinally used for centuries and their extract still has anesthetic purposes today. It was also once believed that the plant possessed magical properties. In fact, it contains alkaloids which are highly toxic and can cause hallucinations or in higher doses, even death. Belladonna is rare and found mainly in Europe, growing on the edges of forests, in shady areas.
The cycle consists of paintings which represent such a place: the space where forest is gradually thinning and turns into meadow, giving the plants and animals living there both shade and a small dose of light.
The relation between light and shadow appears here in formal terms through a limited range of contrasting colors, based on black, white and gray tones. This also has a symbolic dimension. The forest is understood as a place causing ambivalent feelings due to the fact that it can simultaneously delight and terrify, not to mention, one can hide there or lose oneself. It is both bright – representing good, and dark – that of bad, all in one. Analogous to nightshade growing on the wood edge, the plant might have a therapeutic effect, but with the wrong dosage it’s highly toxic.
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