RW

RW is a painting that refers to the Abstract Expressionist trend. From a distance it appears monochrome. It is only when you get close to it and look at it carefully, preferably in the right light, that you can see its subtle structure, the nuances of colour and the shimmer of the intricately painted dots on the surface of the canvas. A good work of art contains a strong psychological component that emanates from it when the artist transfers a part of herself, her inner energy, to it. To the observant viewer, the coherence between the artist's emotions, spirituality, stated ideas and work is palpable. Joanna Borkowska's (1972- ) entire oeuvre to date shares this quality - her paintings are created with great ambition and a strong belief in what she is creating. In Borkowska's work there is a visible reference to the artistic reflections of Yves Klein (1928-1962). This artist stressed that human sensitivity, which defines a given personality and generally conditions creative activity, is part of a mystical energy that moves freely in space. Klein believed in the artist's magical ability to capture these cosmic particles in paint and create aesthetic sensations out of the void, the infinite space of nothingness, which fascinated him. Borkowska shares this fascination in her own way and exploits it artistically. As she describes in an article with the evocative title The Art of Nothing, she only paints when she has found the right energy, mental and emotional state to undertake the mental and physical journey of creating a new painting each time. She explains: "the zone of nothingness is a sacred space, a kind of pre-creative state that is essential to my work". (For me, the zone of nothingness is a sacred space, a kind of pre-creative state that is essential to my work). Joanna Borkowska holds a PhD in political science and studied at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Oxford University and the Paul Valery University in Montpellier; she taught at her alma mater for six years and has been working exclusively as an artist since 2007. She lives and works in Warsaw and New York. Marlena Chybowska-Butler