The mysticism of imaging by Joanna Trzcińska

When creating her works, Joanna Trzcińska relies on the technique of woodcut, for which the matrices are already independent objects. In a series of these works that depict a male figure, the artist uses large-format plywood formwork so that the pattern of sulfur is visible on the external black surface of the boards. Trzcińska uses the printmaking material in an extremely precise and meticulous way, and by sculpting in successive layers of wood, she follows the properties of the substance. 

The effects of the artist's original approach to the painting material can be seen, for instance, in the painting "System," where the black plane, along with the colorful texture of the woodcut board, creates a specific area of visuality. The colors obtained here can often disorient the viewer from the predefined definition of experiencing an image through the sense of sight. As noted by Dr. Barbara Major:

: "She manages to transform the characteristics of wood into artistic qualities; the board comes to life in her hands, giving its attributes to the male figure emerging on its surface. This action does not project the male nude onto some surface; it rather "collects" the image of the male body and the qualities of the material-its color, structure, strength, and fragility. It is precisely this process of fusion that constitutes the very act of imaging, allowing the figures to emerge. Joanna Trzcińska belongs to the group of artists who possess intuitive knowledge that imagination is not just a force for producing images but is above all the power of life itself, a creative impulse that compels the extraction and synthesis of forms from the world one inhabits"

- Barbara Major, quoted from: https://www.joanna-trzcinska.pl/pl,tekst_dr_barbary_major.html, accessed: October 23, 2023.

"The so-called boards of Joanna Trzcińska are extremely interesting formally, large-format male nudes engraved on plywood formwork. Evoking strength, both physical and strength of will, these nudes, in a hysterical context, give hope for controlling hysteria. (...)." 

- Karolina Staszak

In Joanna Trzcińska's works, the human is depicted in every layer of their existence, both physical (one-dimensional, biological) and spiritual. The expression of the subject is synonymous with the distinctiveness of representations, their variability, the continuity of the search for form, content, appropriate creation, discovery, and concealment, and ultimately, miniaturization and monumentality. Trzcińska's diverse technical approach is a passionate quest for a form to describe the world. These research elements are very consistent with the work of the artist, who links her activities with her teaching work at the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź, where she obtained her postdoctoral degree in 2018. The academic work is a creative process for her, requiring constant readiness, permanent self-education, and an open mind, and in working with students, she experiences symbiosis in terms of the exchange of thoughts and experiences.

"For a long time, I struggled to answer the question of what I do, what it actually is. At first, it didn't matter to me. I used to say that I work at the intersection of different forms of imaging. However, over time, I searched for one common term for my works. In the end, it seemed to me that the term 'image' encompasses all of them, both the earlier and the later realizations, and fundamentally distinguishes them from all those activities that fall under the visual arts but are not images. I cared about this because it is precisely the classical meaning of the word 'image' that interests me, and I do not feel the need to go beyond it. I limit the means of expression. The less, the easier. The less, the harder. What I do, I approach philosophically, although my intention is not to 'philosophize." 

- Joanna Trzcińska