Images of cathedrals

Abstract

The cathedral as a topic has held a special place in my work since 2007. The extensive series of paintings and prints represent a multi-layered nexus of my own explorations, in which the iconography of the subject and theological contexts of meaning intertwine with the history and symbolism of depictions of churches. The works combine a synthesis of form with narrative elaborations, in which the geometry that orders their compositions interacts with the free painterly and graphic qualities of the expanded and relief-like material, with the tonal vibration of colour, accents of light, creating the drama or harmony of the imagery.

The painting series Katedra [Cathedral] (2007–2022) and the graphic series Katedra Prousta [Proust’s Cathedral] (2016–2019) are to a large extent reflections on time, on the experience of being in a cathedral, on the existential journey connecting the earthly and the heavenly order of existence. Reflections not only on experiencing the momentary emotions of a passerby, but also on the attempt to depict the lasting order of the painterly microcosm, are rooted in anagogical longings and the perpetuation of the fleeting experience of the numinous. The path through the polyphonic space of the cathedral is a multiple, metaphorical movement through the labyrinth of cognition, a process of discovering meanings blurred by time. The sense of the sacredness and sublimity of the cathedral’s interior is emphasized in these works by the musical context of form. What appears in my recent works are fragments of chorale transcriptions associated with specific antiphons or graduals (the series: Katedra – chorał [Cathedral – Chorale] and Warstwy – chorał [Layers – Chorale], 2022–2024). They are superimposed with additional signs and pictograms, vectors of horizontal and vertical order, fragments of architectural drawings, traces of cultural artifacts, partly illegible fragments of writing, as if these were some old thoughts, still current but evoked casually (the series Warstwy [Layers], 2022–2024).

The Katedra [Cathedral] series is also a long-standing, unique creative experience, the author’s own path of discovery, the temporal process of exploring what is hidden most deeply.