Oskórowuję | I skin it

Mixed-media analog collage on paper (30×30 cm), 2024

“In reference to the three poems on display here alluding to the theme “Threads”, I created a monochrome portrait using analog mixed-media collage technique, which was later digitised. Thanks to the physical act of sewing a paper element in place of the head, the viewer peeks inside, where they can see fibres being exposed, where layers are scratched away – layers symbolising matter, thoughts, the internal world of an individual – completely different for every person. The red contrasting elements can symbolise important events, situations or traumas from the past. They can also become an apocalyptic vision of the future and questions about the existence of the soul.”

 

Angelika Kukioła – graphic designer and visual artist specialising in collage, graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław, studied also in Hochschule fűr Grafik und Buchkunst in Leipzig. In 2022, the first individual exhibition of her works “Przywiązania” [Attachments] was organized in Wrocław, she also participated in many group exhibitions in Poland and abroad. She conducts workshops in collage for children and adults.

 

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Marsjasz. rzeźba écorché

żywię głęboką niechęć do skóry. parszywie
obrasta sierścią, brudem, pyłem dróg i gwiazd.
na nic mycie, golenie, więc oskórowuję,

podważam nożem cienką warstwę, obnażając włókna:
równoległe ozy, drumliny i morenę czoła,
świeżo zaorane wzgórza, ciasny kłębek włóczki.

nie śmiem wzruszać, rozplątywać węzłów ścięgien,
urzekają mnie bruzdy podsączone sokiem.
oto najjaśniejszy klejnot, najwyższy preparat –

Apollo, plastikowy nożyk. i brzoskwinia w dłoni

 

Marsyas. an écorché sculpture

I nurture a deep aversion to skin. so lousy
it grows with fur, filth, dust from roads and stars.
cleaning it, shaving for nothing, so I skin it

I prise a thin layer off with a knife, exposing fibres:
parallel eskers, drumlins and the moraine of forehead,
freshly ploughed hills, tightly wound wool.

I don’t dare to loosen, to undo the knots of tendons,
I’m enchanted by furrows permeated with juice.
here’s the brightest jewel, the highest preparation –

Apollo, a plastic knife. and a peach in his hand

 

Anna Adamowicz – born in 1993 w Lubin, works and lives in Wrocław. Laboratory diagnostician, poet, author of four books of poetry, her favourite being “zmyśl[    ]zmysł” [invent[    ]the sense] published under the pseudonym Laura Osińska. Her poems were translated into several languages, she won Wisława Szymborska Award and was nominated for the international Václav Burian Award.

 

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Co nad tym plastikiem przyklejonym do pleców,
co nad tym plastikiem włożonym do środka,
co nad tym drewnem, po którym ślizga się łokieć,
co nad tą bawełną, której dotyka włos?

 

What’s above the plastic which is stuck to the back,
what’s above the plastic which is placed inside,
what’s above the wood, on which the elbow slides,
what’s above the cotton which the hair touches?

 

Emilia Konwerska – curator, literary scholar, columnist, poet. Author of two books of poetry – “112” (papierwdole publishing house), which was nominated for Gdynia Literary Award, and “Ostatni i pierwszy kajman” [The last and the first caiman] (J publishing house). Her first book was recently published in Ukraine.

 

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wypruwała watę z niedźwiedzi
żeby uwić gniazdo w pachwinach
pękały pąki na krzewach bawełny
po nogach spływała krew

 

she pulled fabric out of bears
to build a nest in the groins
buds were bursting on cotton bushes
blood was flowing down her legs

 

Martyna Pankiewicz – resident of Wrocław, finalist of several competitions for young poets, including the prestigious Jacek Bierezin competition (2021). Her works appeared in various literary and cultural magazines. Her debut volume of poetry “czym się żywi ziemia i martwi” [what do earth and the dead ones feed on] was published in 2023 by papierwdole publishing house.

 

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All works displayed from Wrocław for this project have been translated by:

Katarzyna Janusik – translator, editor, cultural manager. She translated into Polish works by, among others, Ian McEwan, Zelda Fitzgerald, Hanif Kureishi, Zadie Smith, Paul Auster and J.M. Coetzee. Since 2014, she’s coordinated various literary projects in Wrocław, e.g. the European Capital of Culture 2016, UNESCO World Book Capital and UNESCO City of Literature. Deputy director at Wrocław Literature House.