Agnieszka Szczotka

By exploiting the physical properties of materials my aim is to explore their potential and limitations. By doing so I intend to generate a tension, in both the physical and metaphorical sense. Potential to generate an understanding of metaphorical tension for the viewer is through the descriptive use of the materials that have tactile, bodily qualities. Through the interaction between the pliant foam and supporting structure the physical manifestation of tension is achieved where the foam is held against gravity.

An intuitive approach towards making is strongly correlated with the qualities of the materials where the process of making is graphically hand carved and dictates the appearance of the surface. By making the process very visible, my intention is to create and present a discovered experience rather than a designed one.

Disability, inability to perform as seen at Peter Breugel the Elder paintings like Blind leading the blind and Beggars, represent an image that is both tragic and grotesque at the same time. Some aspects of this dysfunction are intended within my own material metaphors implicit in the configurations I construct. Here the material itself becomes a metaphor for crippled, sick, etc., but aspires to become the material of art and can’t hide its real nature, this being especially evident when it turns yellow and reminds us of something almost disgusting and dirty. Although I am not making a site – specific work, the space where work exists becomes a background for the changing surfaces of the work adjusted by light and its relationships to the space it is in. Careful placement within the space creates a relationship with the viewer where bodily associations that I want to achieve can be experienced through the ‘haptic eye’ rather than through literal representation of the body and engaging with the details becomes as important as work itself.