Still Light
Jowita Wyszomirska Solo Exhibition
April 4 - May 21, 2022
The Gallery at CCBC Essex
“The shore had a dual nature, changing with the swing of the tides, belonging now to the land, now to the sea.” - Rachel Carson
Working at the intersection of installation and drawing, I contemplate nature and our relationship with the environment. My work evolves from the context of observing moments at the periphery of our experience: A cloud casting shadow as it crosses the sun, the ever-changing shoreline as land and water meet, the sensory experience of wind, the warmth of shimmering light touching the skin.
Based on the imagery of the Atlantic coast, Nearshore Light is a drawing installation that reflects my interest in creating dynamic compositions. Its layout encourages physical movement by continuing across several large Mylar panels suspended from the ceiling. It functions as an extended drawing that viewers experience by walking around, defining their perceptions of space. This experience resembles how we see the world; the perspective framed by constant motion and shifting points of view represents a reality that remains incomplete.
A terrain without a distance where the near and the far fold into each other grounded on the surface of something ancient that is moving, churning ground, melting away. Glaciers appear fixed and unchanging, however, they are continuously on the move. Water Memory is based on my experience of the Root Glacier located in the Wrangell St. Elias National Park, Alaska. In contrast to the firm glacier occupying the landscape, the human body is short-lived. Yet the rapid melting of glaciers and the intensity of changes in the Arctic is itself a fragile organism on the verge of extinction. As the ice melts, its ancient memory fades away; the fragmented landscape reflects its continuous depletion due to human-caused global warming.
Moving between representation and abstraction when working on paper, each piece starts with the cyanotype process made in collaboration with the landscape that leaves a physical inscription through direct contact with the sun, ocean water, sediment, and coastal plants. The process creates patterns and textures through direct contact of the pre-coated, light-sensitive paper with the water, where the salt, sand, and seaweed wash over it. By infusing the surface with the saline ocean water and permeating it with the sunlight, every piece accelerates the current environmental narrative.
Interview with the Artist
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Jowita Wyszomirska's Bio
Jowita Wyszomirska is an interdisciplinary artist working in drawing and large-scale installations. She received her BFA at Illinois State University and her MFA from the University of Maryland. Her work has been exhibited nationally in solo and two-person exhibitions. Some of her honors include residency fellowships at the Andy Warhol Preserve Artist in Residence program, Long Island, NY; Wrangell Artist Residency in McCarthy, Alaska, Jentel Foundation, Wyoming; Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, Nebraska; and the International School of Painting, Drawing, and Sculpture, Italy. Wyszomirska's work is represented by a DC-based gallery, Neptune & Brown, and has been included in many private, corporate, and institutional collections, with a recent acquisition by the Baltimore Museum of Art.