MAURYCY GOMULICKI – Fern Flower

Fern Flower is rooted in the enduring Slavic myth in which the Fern is an unreachable and seductive plant existing only in the realm of delusion. The work reinterprets the idea of the forest – instead of soothing the soul by nature we are dealing with state of anxiety and terror. The “Exploration of darkness” is a counterpoint to the artist’s investigation of the “Culture of Pleasure”. Gomulicki, like many Polish people inevitably confronts nightmares of the past, among them the issue of genocide.

The work is inspired by a passage from the controversial novel “The Kindly Ones” by Jonathan Littell, in which a character reflects upon lost innocence the forest is identified as a place of mass executions.

Fern Flower is a leitmotif extracted from this scenario and the only graphic representation within the installation shown at Arsenal Gallery in Bialystok. The work takes the form of a mandala, a figure which occurs frequently in Gomulicki’s work. This central symmetrical collage is based on engravings from the seminal work “Kunstformen der Natur” by Ernst Haeckel who was interested in theories of race. Gomulicki investigates aesthetics of evil: extra-terrestrial beauty which is frightening and fascinating at the same time. Intentionally the form of the flower refers to the genre of coffin portraiture, popular in Polish culture during the 17th and 18th centuries. The work is also inspired by op-art experiences incorporating mirrors, lights and shadows and architectural intervention.

A significant aspect of the project is the audiences’ interaction with the space of the installation, experiencing the effect of spatial confusion and the fragmentation of reality, which pulsates, repeats and reflects itself. An integral element of the installation is the soundtrack prepared by Maciek Sienkiewicz.