MAGDA SOBOŃ TAMING THE WORLD

When we face one of Magda Soboń’s Love Letters, we feel a bit like discoverers watching Egyptian hieroglyphs or relief friezes of inhabitants of America of the past. We realize that we deal with a message expressed in a specific form. We stare at it, trying to guess its content, to perceive the essence of the code which determines the form of the message.

Do Magda Soboń’s compositions mean something specific? We know that the first works that represent the series were inspired by the artist’s personal experience, the actual mail correspondence. It is hard to expect that the works are its accurate reflection, though to achieve the artistic effect the author had to develop a logical algorithm for interpretation. No matter if it has a coherent, speculative structure, or it is just free, emotional creation based on the original. It is impossible to demand that the artist should give us the opportunity to get to know her intimate secrets; we should rather reflect on the nature of the very communication process and the role which the digital message plays in it, as well as on what the works tell us about the state of emotional relationships between people.

In today’s indirect contacts factors that are involved include: a gesture, facial expressions, body language. Do messages generated digitally really inform about affection, express desires and longings? Can the information stored in our electronic archives retain the memory of feelings?

The first small works, which in time were dominated by the artistic aspect – creative exploration in terms of form, colour and rhythm – bravely turned into elaborate frescoes. In the next stage the resulting plane of big compositions gained more monumental dimension. They have an impact on the viewer not only through the form, but also an aura difficult to define, hiding the echoes of something primal and eternal. From a distance they look just like painting compositions; when we get closer we can notice their intricate, modular structure. ‘Words’ come to us as if from cracked layers of the scorched earth, they engage us in a dialogue, even if we conduct it only in the space of our sensitivity. We feel amazed that these impressive compositions, carrying the ‘weight’ of stone reliefs, were created from paper (though the word ‘extracted’ or ‘disclosed’ perhaps captures the essence of the whole process more accurately). They ‘flow out’ of it in the literal and figurative sense. Due to the mastery of craftsmanship and creativity, the artist makes paper obedient to her will.

The modular nature is also characteristic of the works from the next series entitled Unbemalte Personen, made in the techniques of plastercut and linocut. The components of the composition are in the shape of human figures, presented with different gesture formulas. They are uniformed; nevertheless in close-up we can see that they are separate, individual. Their identity is not completely defined; even formally they are full of faults, incomplete. They bring to our mind time-worn, faded antique basreliefs. They want to be taken seriously, but on the other hand, they are grotesque in their efforts to exist as independent individuals, helpless against fate and random chance. In the way the image motifs are handled, and even in the titles of some works the artist reveals a discreet distance to the created characters and situations in which they have been involved.

The use of modular elements, placing them in ever new contexts, the development of the works makes the creative act meditative in its character. In Unbemalte Personen smaller planes combined into larger expressions form huge compositions in which what is individual fades in the unified and – it seems – infinite whole. The aspect that is unique returns while the viewers cast their moving shadows on the white, relief surface. Paradoxically, in one of the small works lack of a shadow distinguishes one figure from others, stigmatises it and puts it next to – and not among – others.

Identity becomes one of the most important motifs discussed in Magda Soboń’s works. The artist talks about it not only in general, but also in individual dimension, developing the problem in the next series of works. Individual existences fade not only in the human mass.

They are also insignificant atoms in the immensity of existence, which we hardly know despite our millennial knowledge. Some surprising, peculiar manifestations of the matter are hidden in the depths of the waters and on the surface of the Earth. They are conjured up by paper and colour forms, resembling abyssal organisms, endowed with unusual shapes. They build clusters and atolls. They emit some unusual phosphorescent light similar to that produced by deep-sea existences (Abyss), they amaze with abundance and richness of colours which occur in nature in the sections of the most beautiful minerals (Coordinates).

In the following works the artist tries to define her identity, facing the power of the entire Universe. The view of the starry sky, shiny metallic light of the moon, newly discovered areas of distant celestial bodies, the power of the elements teach humility and incline towards metaphysical thinking. Man tames the vastness and mystery, submerging in the world of religion and myth.

At the same time the human becomes a part of the Universe because Magda Soboń’s planets are not only celestial bodies arousing curiosity and anxiety. They are broad cultural contexts evoked by their mythological names. Their exploration supports man’s attempts to selfdefine and to understand their relation with reality The works Venus, Mars or Pluto, in which the author managed to unite various means of artistic expression, captivate with their beauty. They amaze with their size, elaborated textures, phenomenal colours. Already in the previous series the compositions – due to their multilayered structure and the feeling of depth – ceased to be two-dimensional. Now they are components of a carefully planned installation. Space, objects and light are united, arousing not only admiration for the artistic effect, but also connoting clues of philosophical reflections relating to the essence and structure of the world, and the place of man and his work in the whole existence.

Magda Soboń’s works, made of handmade paper (whose main component is cellulose and kozo fibres) in different techniques (gluing, stitching, painting, printing, burning) are conceived in the artist’s imagination. She gives them shapes, textures and colours resulting not only from our, still rather imperfect knowledge, but also from their cultural meanings, past and present. The traditional symbolism of colours and shapes, the opposition of masculine and feminine elements, referring to the contemporary theories of culture, form the strategy which is to maintain the continuity between what is old and what is contemporary.

Magda Soboń creates her works the way the world is created – starting from a point, a grain. Gradually, by adding, acting centrifugally, she expands not only the scope of the work but also the range of space appropriated and dynamised by the objects. In these artistic manifestations she touches the philosophical reflection on what is elementary and complex, what represents the micro- and macroworld, what is the beginning and the end. And here, like in the other series, delicate, ephemeral nature of the material used contrasted with monumental expression of works becomes an argument in the discourse. Insignificance and transience of paper is confronted with durability and infinity of the Universe.

The silvery-white Moon, full of vital elevations, is associated with symbols of femininity. On the one hand, they are purity and gentleness, water and moisture, sea tides, on the other hand, the power of creation and reproduction of life, confirmed by the regularity of phases which it passes through, affecting the rhythm of life on Earth. Blue Venus is also the feminine element in the Universe. It is the sense of value and beauty, magnetism of human relationships.

Magda Soboń’s work such as Venus enchants by its spectacular textural effects, the choice and beauty of colours. Mars, burning with reds and yellows, seems to be alive.

It almost pulses, swollen with energy – the symbol of male strength, struggle and victory. In the artist’s interpretation the Sun emphasises the dark, destructive aspect of this celestial body. Is it because it embodies the masculine element? Is it because the intellect and knowledge associated with it do not always lead to goodness and happiness?

Extremes are reconciled by Pluto, the ruler of darkness. It is the object responsible for every new beginning, for transformations, a patron of both death and birth. It is accountable for man’s rebirth, his spiritual regeneration. From artistic point of view the author’s vision is sophisticated and stunning, the circle glistens with some mysterious glow.

The series Beyond the Horizon is a kind of art theatre. The artistic effect is not only a result of the distinct quality of each work. What matters is their location in the whole space, mutual juxtaposition, well-thought lighting with spotlights, surprising reflections of the objects and shadows projected on the wall – a staged scenery, thanks to which we, the audience can feel united with the surrounding, barely known Whole.

The artist expresses her doubts not only by means of the spectacular creative acts. Collaterally, she constructs very intimate, personal works, trying to find her place in the world and leaving discreet traces of her presence in the reality. She looks for a kind of guideline – the soul of the world, which guarantees its unity and strength, just like the human soul determines our humanity, the right direction we take. Traces of spiritual aspects of reality appear as discrete reflections on the surface of puddles. The artist notices and captures them on handmade paper.

Ethereal, delicate traces of anima mundi are ingeniously trapped on surfaces resembling crochet napkins, like old stains, permanent, unremovable remains of the past.

For the artist the concept of Unity means awareness of relations with the whole Universe. In the series of works called Spheres tiny images of human figures – the artist’s own images – single or multiplied, are hidden within the white paper sphere. Microscopic, peeped only through a small hole in the paper ball, the human silhouettes suggest that from the perspective of the Universe man appears to be only a black micron spot. However, we look intensely trying to recognize an individual in the mass, to find ourselves among many others.

Searching for the soul of the world, the artist finds traces of her psyche embodied by distorted, incomplete images of faces obtained in the cyanotype technique. Phantom, unstable, inky reflections attract our attention, becoming a source of metaphysical considerations (Not Yet, No Longer). It seems that the image vehicles, irregular scraps of the paper matter were suspended in the space only for a while, that in a minute they are going to dissolve in it like gauzy ectoplasm. Face reflections in paper cups are also similarly phenomenal. They are traces of time measured by successive portions of coffee or tea, existential considerations on the human existence (Tea Time). They make us realise the fact that our attempts to find sense often resemble reading the tea leaves.

The problem of seeking one’s own ‘I’ is also manifested by a spectacular pile of paper balloons with the artist’s faces printed on them (Balloons). At first they appear to be identical, but soon we notice that undoubtedly the same character manifests her presence each time in a different way. Images are incomplete and built by different elements – all of them make up the synthesis of a human face. Each of the images, different from the others, retains another event, experience, state or emotion. The series, like the previous works, is an expression of a kind of vivisection carried out by the artist, a tool of critical analysis of her own personality.

Magda Soboń’s creative activity is varied, marked by passion for experiments. The use of handmade paper is a common feature of its manifestations. However, it is not an end in itself, it is only a starting point for further actions typical of a variety of disciplines and techniques. In each case we find out how versatile and capacious handmade paper is. This material is characterized by specific transparency and light transmission; layers of sensitivity, talent and intuition permeate it, which – together with the mastery of craftsmanship – affects the significance of issues raised by the artist.

Dariusz Leśnikowski

Transl. Elżbieta Rodzeń-Leśnikowska





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