The artist has always referred to an open formula of realism, being simultaneously tempted by strong metaphorical tendencies. Thus, there have always been present elements of figuration in his works, those referring us to symbolic meanings. Starting with realism based on everyday reality through poetical realism with lyrical reflection he consequently has reached that kind of realism which is called magic and transfers usual, banal events into the extraordinary dimension.

In graphics the need to express the intimate personal statement of the artist seemed to be intensified. It appeared to turn from reflections on the elements of human existence and cultural output of man into tranquillised reflections where the artist's personal experience dominates. Since then graphics have seemed to be the metaphorical records of emotional states of mind.

The artist makes a symbolic choice of the elements of reality observed, he deprives them of the original context and creates a new dynamic microcosm in which inconspicuous dead objects start to convey a wide meaning. Natural stones and seemingly carelessly arranged fragments of fabric may evoke far away mysterious spaces. Grass and sticks, thread and feathers serve the purpose of forming weird objects with clear distressing semantics. Bundles of herbs and grass, shells and chestnuts remind us of inevitability of passing away. Paper birds, feathers, wings-sails, are the attributes of mythical thinking about liberation and escape, action and movement, exultation and flight. The heroes of Warzywoda's graphics are often endowed with life and energy. They are born and set in a tangle of forms, like in cages, sometimes they come out of the darkness, bowl along the sea of organic and non-organic shapes or, overcoming gravity, they majestically float over non-defined space. Beyond their semantic references the works impress us with their artistic form. They are often perfectly composed still lives, full of warm reds, browns and gold, but also cooler tones like greys and blues. Within each colour we can find dozens of shades as the artist is concerned with finding the right temperature of colour, tone which could express his mood at the very moment of creation. Let us not be deceived by the apparent homogeneity of colour compositions or their faded character as in most Witold Warzywoda's lithographs the final effect is the result of numerous colour matrices worked out separately.

Dariusz Leśnikowski