Untitled

The painting by Katarzyna Szeszycka (born in 1983) is the right wing of a triptych painted by the artist in 2012 as part of the project entitled Pełnia – Realizacja, an extended series of paintings and photographs complemented by videos prepared by Szeszycka in collaboration with photographer Konrad Królikowski. The project was entirely devoted to Rokita – a small town in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, where the artist was born and raised. The project is a story of a place that shaped the artist's sensitivity and, at the same time, an artistic closure to the experience of growing up there. Departure, which is another aspect of her biography, gives rise to a key painting inspiration. The leitmotif of the whole series is the natural night light as seen outdoors during a full moon, in a place, where it is not disturbed by artificial light. All paintings created as part of the Pełnia – Realizacja series – those portraying the residents of Rokita, as well as those devoted to landscapes, were painted based on long-exposure photographs taken in natural moonlight, making night not only a backdrop, but also one of the main themes and a leading motif. Szeszycka’s series thus becomes a part of the centuries-old tradition of the so-called nocturnes – paintings depicting night scenes (from Latin Nocturnus – nocturnal).

Magdalena Lewoc