A review of my 2009 exhibition in Lodz, Poland written by Karolina Jablonska

The World of vision through painting

by Karolina Jablonska (independent art curator & historian of art)

Kasia Turajczyk belongs to the group of artists for whom art is a kind of sixth sense.
Apart from the fact that they see, hear, taste, smell and are sensitive to touch, they also create. Art for them is not only a cognitive instrument but also a kind of warehouse, inside which they collect experiences; first of all their own experiences, but they also gather the experiences of those near and dear, friends, neighbours and sometimes even enemies. Art also supports their mind; it is a kind of enclosure, within which it is possible to explain that which is impossible. Owing to such a comprehension of art, the creations of Kasia Turajczyk are extremely varied.

One of her forms of creation is painting, and a part of this work could be defined as realistic. In the case of these works of the artist it is not only the realism, but especially the atmosphere – in all of the paintings one can feel a kind of warmth. Not only because of the connection with the sun of southern Europe (visible in some of the landscapes); but also because of the connections with the emotions of the portrayed persons. Landscape paintings are for the artist a kind of specific notebook (diary) of voyages, records of the memories associated with a certain place – a country, a city or a street; it is a challenge for the artist to show the impressions, the atmosphere, of the places they were in. In these realistic works, the artist often uses bright colours, softly overlapping each other. There are some exceptions. One of these is a painting that came into being after a visit to the USA; ‘California Dream’. Although this painting is almost hyper-realistic, the street of San Francisco depicted therein seems entirely unrealistic. It is painted with a firm, courageously arranged colour scheme. An integral part is a red frame, designed by the artist herself. On the inside of the frame are inscriptions : California is a fine place to live if you happen to be an orange (Woody Allen). There is science, logic, reason; there is thought verified by experience. And then there is California (Edward Abbey). The inscriptions are an indication that among Kasia's interests you will not only find painting, but also literature.

The artist is currently writing a book. Its leading heroes are two creatures: Betelgeuse and Mintaka (kind of dragons), born in the nebula of the constellation of Orion. This literary-fantasy tale (as the artist herself calls it) is illustrated by Kasia herself, and contains a multitude of cultural and civilizing forces – well known themes and plots, real as well as imaginary, all mixed together; everything is possible, and this makes the story more interesting.

Among Kasia’s paintings are some which one would not immediately connect with fantasy. However because the composition of some elements cannot be found in the real world, these paintings bring to mind thoughts about surrealism. An example of such a work is Panta Rhei – fairly economical in form, it depicts a seaside landscape with a flying Pelican, projecting a shadow on the sand and there are also wide open doors hanging over the beach. Such paintings show restlessness and tension very clearly; which could be caused by the diversity and variety of the possibile associations which every observer can find inside oneself, dependent upon ones own experience and sensitivity.

Nature is a very important part of the artist’s creation. Nature is not only very important in Kasia’s life and in Kasia’s world as a source of beauty and inspiration but also as a source of painting material. Kasia uses in her work leaves, petals, filaments, fruits, small stems from trees, bushes, flowers, weeds, feathers of birds. In some of her abstract paintings she also uses couscous, rice, diverse seeds, grasses and bay leaves. Because of that, she has achieved some very interesting structural effects. But more important than this is the fact that because of using these natural materials she builds a bridge between the so often hermetic world of art (for example the limitation of frames ), and the reality that surrounds us. Again the art helps her ‘to manage’ her fascination with the world. Being surrounded by nature Kasia wants to know it, touch it, analyse it, see how it changes in time, and because she thinks visually, she also uses it in her art.

Kasia Turajczyk is an attentive observer of the world and people, and she demands the same from her audience. Her work “Freedom of thinking, freedom of choice” is a installation consisting of 6 small canvasses. The owner of the installation (the 6 panels) has the freedom to make a choice not only about where to hang the installation, but also how to hang it by composing the 6 small paintings according to their own feelings, character and their own discretion. Maybe the artist will in the near future develop this way of thinking about the process of creating art and will attempt such a work at an exhibition in order to make it possible for the recipients to work with the artist together during the process of seeing/visualising? The likelihood of this happening appears to be good considering that during her exhibition at the Gallery Forum in Lodz Kasia prepared stickers in three colours each indicating: the favourite painting, the second best painting and the third most liked painting and then she asked the guests to mark the paintings according to their own criteria. Due to such an artistic concept the artist showed that art for her is another way of communicating with the world and with people. Art for her is an additional sense, exceptional because it reacts to very different stimuli, and that makes her art so varied and rich, yet always honest.

From Fruit till Fantasy – Art Exhibition