Wojciech Rygało
Woytek Rygało: In the Shadow
What can we expect from Woytek Rygało’s goldsmith’s work? First of all surprise and wit, but also some hidden meanings – this is the vision of jewellery that Woytek has been realising for almost 30 years now. In the newest collection he is raising his own standards by choosing light as his leading motif; and more precisely the shadow cast by various floodlit objects. “In the Shadow” is composed of nine bracelets designed in a such way as to obtain a visually attractive shadow, and the shadow is “designed” so as to create a visually attractive and worthwhile form of jewellery.
However, it would be very naive to expect that the author will give in to predictable schemes, even those he invented himself. Since predictability is boring, not every bracelet has its materialised shadow and not all of them are presented in the same way. Woytek is playing not only with jewellery itself, but also with the form of exposition.
Still, the fun does not end here. Woytek plays with the viewer too, as if he wanted to challenge their alertness and knowledge about goldsmithing. The viewers, if they take a closer look, will recognise in these works some familiar elements: clear, geometrical shapes, a cage form, flower motifs and mathematic inspirations... Yet, they are not entirely obvious, as if they were only... shadows of their prototypes. That is because inspiration by other artists’ works – conscious or not –results in creating their shadows: more or less distorted reflections.
And at this point it is not clear anymore which is the shadow and which is the original...
Woytek Rygalo : Sometimes I have a feeling that there is too much of everything in my jewellery, but at the same time it is a good reflection of myself: that is the way I am, I could not create one, coherent collection, not even a coherent exhibition – that would be too boring for me. I do not fret about limits – neither material, nor formal. That is probably the reason why I do not have my own recognizable style. Unless this lack of style is my style...
Anna Sado
Wojciech Rygało, a searching artist
The work which ends a project usually refers to its form only. Rarely do we think about some further coordination with the human silhouette, clothing and surroundings. The artist introduces light (the sun) and examines the outline of its shadow for the sake of form analysis and attractiveness of the exposition. This ascertainment serves to develop the next stage, that is the connection of light and shadow, and places it in a complete artistic space. The shadow, as an indispensable arts element completing our space becomes a new discovery, makes the world wholly malleable whereas with reference to other structures it represents the complexity of physical, social, intellectual, artistic and other phenomena.
Prof. Andrzej Szadkowski
