written by Sam Rohweder
I knew, even
before I stepped into the space, that I was going to love this exhibition. The
dark grey wall with its' bold red hand-styled type announcing the exhibition
and the darker walls with muted lighting beyond added to the atmosphere of
Mystic old world charm that excited my imagination. The impression I had when I
first stepped down was of heading into an old forest, reminiscent of the one in
Red Riding Hood.
We were
fortunate enough to be guided through the exhibition by QUT Curator Pia
Robinson who talked about the layout of the exhibition. She spoke of the soft,
warm lighting choice that helps to evoke a sense of warmth and comfort. She
also explained how she used the wall colours to push the narrative of the
exhibition with introduction on the darker walls, content of the story in a
brighter environment and then a somber wrap up with darker walls, once again,
at the end. Pia went on to talk about the artist Beata, and give us some
insights into the background for this body of work.
Beata
Batorowicz was born in Poland and immigrated to Australia, settling in
Queensland with her parents when she at the age of five. Most of what she knew
of Poland was from the stories her parents told her and the Polish story books
they read to her. As a child she had been most especially fascinated with a Fox
character in the Polish story book “Brzechwa’s Dzieciom” by Jan Brzechwa and
illustrated by Jan Marcin Szancer. Beata identifies with this cunning character
and certainly pays homage to him in many aspects of her work, often referring
to herself as a Trickster or Foxy Artist.
We were lucky
enough to be joined by Beata for our tour and she quietly shared her thoughts
and insights into the processes of her work. I was most fascinated with her
description of big art and little art. She explains that 'big art' is based
primarily in description and documentation, it is more institutionalized. In
contrast 'little art' is more concerned with narratives and the stories of
emotions. She feels that her work has more of a folksy feel to it, with her use
of crafts such as sewing and knitting. The puppets and masks stitched together with
skins and fabrics also have a very old world feel. They are much more tactile
objects, having been created to be used or worn rather than just admired. She
says her Trickster character is a symbol of the little art practice which she
identifies with.
This exhibition
is the culmination of a project that began with Beata going back to Poland to
explore her origins. There she gathered stories from her grandmother and visited
the places of her early childhood. What she brought back from that visit was a sense
of nostalgia and whimsy, interlaced with her parents and grandmothers stories
of hardship and loss during World War 2. It's difficult to imagine marrying
together these diverse concepts into a cohesive exhibition but, Beata is a
story teller at heart. Using her persona as the Foxy artist and trickster Beata
weaves her story through her lovely illustrations reminiscent of those from
“fairytales from Auschwitz” set beside meticulously crafted puppets and masks. These
are interspaced with polarized photographs of the Polish forest in winter,
family stories in didactics on the walls and framed photographs and
documentation from World War 2, to create the complete narrative.
What she
finally shares with us is a poetic representation of how her adult eyes and her
childhood imaginings have merged to create a lovely, unworldly story of her
family’s history. It's all together heart breaking and uplifting at the same
time. Beata will be taking this exhibition to Poland in 2013, and I can't help
but wonder, what they will they make of her interpretations there?
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