We all know that Art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth at least the truth that is given us to understand. The artist must know the manner whereby to convince others of the truthfulness of his lies.
Pablo Picasso
My story started at the beginning of the period called “Gierek’s decade”
… and that would be in 1970. You may ask how big of an influence can politics have on a child? It would’ve appeared that there was none – since I’ve spent my first 10 years in a world known only to me, where smile and fun accompany me from dawn until dusk. Unfortunately, idyll and happiness were merely a delusion of the pseudo-prosperity period, while everybody thought Poland was becoming an example for the rest of Europe, it was instead a Moloch eating itself from the inside. Looking back on this period – I’m reliving mental deja vu and the first 10 years of my life have burned the greatest mark in my heart. The world that had been created solely for me has stopped being a real one and with each passing year I could feel something was about to happen – I portray this uncertanity and decadence in my works. I expressed the fight against the system in every plane of my life. I manifested growing up in ‘red period’ on the building walls. I was somewhat of a hoodlum, even though my appearance wouldn’t let You know. Economics intrested me greatly – I even sought higher education in this direction, but my inner self and chase for the dreams have taken the initiative. I wanted to get out of the country. Paris was my goal. I would be denied it by the government, additionally being banned from all of the universities in our beloved country.
With no other option left, I have made my hobby my work.
I don’t know where I would’ve ended up was it not for my wife. Her family had a ceramic workshop, where the prose of life had been filled with aquaristics and porcelain, with emphasis on ceramics. I became a part of the whole thing… and started delving into art in my spare time. I tried my hand at painting – not on walls anymore, but rather on canvas – still trying to find a medium which would let me fully express myself. I would try out sculpturing next. It turned out to be pretty good and I made contact with art galleries in Kraków. The beginning seemed really promissing. Everyone was ridiculing me and letting me go with nothing, strongly suggesting that nobody wants to work with somebody who managed to learn only through his own mistakes. Sadly (… or not) the sight of freshly fired clay sculpture, straight out of the oven was strongly addicting, which made me an acolyte to this day.
Which moment in all of this process is the most exciting?
This exact moment, during which ‘the sesame gate’ reveal fruits of my labor. The color of the glazing is particularly mystic – You never know what exact shade will it turn out to be.
How does everything look like from the inside?
The process is quite complex. Everything has to cool down for a quite long time. They are then fired in an oven designed specially for this task. Next, everything is covered in ceramic glaze and put into 1100°C oven, where it takes more than 20 hours to be fired properly. One singular piece can take from a few days to few weeks to become a reality! Therefore people who ask for a sculpture and think it will be done in a week – along with being shipped across half the world are left somewhat disappointed. Until humanity discovers teleportation and a mean to bend time and space it will continue to be so. Art of ceramics is the driving motor of various ideas.
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