Found object

The works by Leszek Knaflewski (1960-2014) encourage the viewer's imagination to follow various interpretative paths. This is the case with the Raincarnation series, which was in the works since mid-1990s, and which features a fascinating ambiguity in the title. Knaflewski's neologism – raincarnation – evokes associations with reincarnation, one of the oldest metaphysical concepts in the history of the human kind. The idea of reincarnation, associated mainly with Eastern mysticism, has also been known since antiquity in Western culture. The belief in the migration of life was the basis of the philosophy of the Pythagoreans, the beliefs of the followers of Orphism, Celts and early Slavs. Contemporary Western culture, which has seen a revival of interest in Eastern philosophy, has popularised the concept of an eternal circle of life in which new life is always based on the death of former life. The root-crucifix motif, used by Knaflewski in Raincarnation can be interpreted as an artistic reference to this thought – the beginning of life is simultaneously the beginning of death, and death is always a harbinger of the new incarnation. In Raincarnation, Knaflewski visualises the cyclical character of all life and the process of transferring life energy. At a close distance, the tangled, twisting roots, which comprise the piece, resemble microscopic image of a sperm, composed of millions of tiny spermatozoons programmed to carry out one mission – to create new life. Some of the roots end with a crucifix, which is a symbol of the life’s end and the threshold of the next transformation.

Magdalena Lewoc