Debuts: Justyna Kowalska

The Silver Gallery Under the Quail's Basket, Main Square 38

4 May – 12 June, 2021

Opening Hours:

Monday - Friday: 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Saturday: 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m

The exhibition is presented as part of the Debuts exhibition cycle and constitutes a prize awarded by the Gallery of Art in Legnica in the Władysław Strzemiński Competition - PROJECT addressed to final-year students and organised by the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź since 1983. The aim of the Debuts series is to enable young artists to appear on the artistic scene and to gain their first experiences in presenting their own work.

Justyna Kowalska – a graduate of BA studies at the Faculty of Textile and Fashion of Władysław Strzemiński Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź. In 2021 she defended her diploma in the Jewellery Design Studio under the direction of Sergiusz Kuchczyński, PhD. Winner of the Władysław Strzemiński - competition Project 2020 for students at the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź. Currently continuing her studies at Master's level.

The exhibition presents four collections by the artist: "Smokes", "Symmetry", "Rings" and "Water Element".

"Smokes" is a collection combining traditional goldsmithing techniques with plexiglass. It consists of a necklace and two brooches made of brass and printed with "black fumes". The assumption of the project was the effect of interaction of the objects with the surface on the basis of contrast. When creating the collection, the author referred to the region she comes from - Silesia, where the air is heavily polluted due to the mining and metallurgical industry. The objects are intended to raise awareness of environmental degradation, to which we contribute. By juxtaposing metal with plastic - a long-lasting material with an impermanent and commonplace one - the artist wants to make us aware of the need for change. The designer remarks that in this day and age, when the choice of products is enormous (and often means a choice between glass, paper or plastic packaging), the idea of buying more for less is still being promoted, with a total disregard for the question of the origin, production process, method of disposal and the real cost of purchased items.

Smokes pendant, brooches, brass, print on plexiglass

"Symmetry" is a collection consisting of three rings and a pair of earrings. The objects are made of brass and then silver plated. The volcanic stones used here have been reproduced by means of casting in epoxy resin. The starting point in designing the collection was a consideration of the issue of symmetry. To add variety to the forms, the designer juxtaposed two contrasting colours: black and white. The highly polished metal surface reflects the attached stone, multiplying it. The emerging motif of a circle with infinite axes of symmetry appears in the form of a spatial bowl and a curved oval. The project is meant to provoke questions: How often do we observe the phenomenon of duplication, which instead of enriching - impoverishes, uniformizes and makes moniotous? Is what is marketed as real actually so? How often do we see reality as a reflection on a smartphone screen?

"Rings" is a set of objects made of brass, silver and amber, whose creation was inspired by the author's reflection on form and the search for a less obvious shape of the ring. The starting point for the collection was the classic form of a wedding ring, which the author reproduced and transformed, adding variety by means of a wire with a non-standard cross-section and by using amber elements. In a ring with two bases connected by flat bars one can detect inspiration by contemporary architecture. It is characterised by a geometric, schematic construction and its form differs the most from the classic ring shape.

Rings, silver, brass, amber

"Water Element" is a brooch made of silver, consisting of repeated and transformed circles inspired by the fascination with the element of water (in particular the circles appearing on its surface). The colorful accent of the object is a blue stone framed with the created structure. The object is an incentive to appreciate the richness of water and to change or implement behaviors that allow less water consumption. As the artist remarks: “water gives life, it is difficult to imagine functioning without it. Unfortunately, this raw material is not only underrated but also wasted. Huge reservoirs are polluted. More and more areas on earth are becoming desertified."

The element of water  brooch, silver, stone