Biographical note:

Malina Wieczorek studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow, graduating in 1996 with honors. Diploma in the Interior Design Studio with prof. Barbara Borkowska-Larysz, annex in Graphic Design with prof. Jacek Siwczynski. Painting in the studio of prof. Janusz Tarabula. She has been exhibiting since 1994. Her works are on permanent display in prestigious corporate and private collections around the world.

ARTIST STATEMENT:

I have been creating female nudes for decades. For me as a painter, women's bodies give a greater palette to ponder about the truth of life. They touch on existential problems that affect us all. I am fascinated by the body reduced to a sign, an abstract form, which gives a huge field of imagination and searching for my own answers to the questions of what the painting really represents.

Women are mothers, lovers, but also ephemeral saints or people following their own paths. Maybe because I am a woman myself, I give myself the right to some deformations and simplifications. Searching for what cannot be seen. It's a bit of an experience on its own. Women have been a source of discussion for centuries - what matters, soul or beauty? What is beauty really? Because everyone sees and understands it differently.

We are all repeating the same story of creation. All we can do is try deeper and deeper to understand who we are. That's what the Madonna series is all about. My Madonnas refer to both classical iconography and identity related to the old local culture. I replaced the halo from classic paintings with a pattern made of folk rollers, sometimes this halo is somewhere on the side, redefining the way it is shown and asking the question what really builds it. One can get the impression that these patterns irritate the body, cut into it and even hurt. Other times they are like a flower meadow around the heroines of the picture. It is this ambiguity and the possibility of self-interpretation, depending on the moment of life, own history, mood in which the recipient finds himself, that is the most interesting.

About the paintings:

Malina Wieczorek has been painting women for several decades. These acts can certainly be included in the so-called of conceptual art. The figures of the women she creates are reflected as if in Venetian mirrors, unaware of the observation to which they have been exposed and, in a sense, condemned. Most often they emerge from the interior of the painting somewhat shyly, half-gesture or half-profile. Similar and different at the same time. Lonely, yet clearly present among us. The artist used to call them acts, and this term can be applied to both the physical and spiritual spheres.

The "Madonnas" series, realized since 2020, refers to the classic iconography and identity related to the culture of the regions. The artist replaces the halo with a pattern made of folk rollers, sometimes this halo is somewhere on the side, redefining the way in which the "sanctity" of women is shown and asking the question, what is it today? Often one can get the impression that it irritates the body, cuts into it, hurting. At other times, it is like a flower meadow around the heroines of the painting. It is this ambiguity and the possibility of self-interpretation, depending on the moment of life, one's own history, the mood of the recipient, that is the most interesting for the artist.

Attempts to read, for example, cuneiform on linguistic principles, often do not bring a satisfactory result. Hence the question, shouldn't we read with "emotions"? Just as it happens in reading and understanding images.

Malina Wieczorek's conceptual painting finds answers to who we are in emotions. Although we call it "painting", Malina actually draws with a brush. These are drawn pictures. Worn backgrounds, always a contour, gray paint and a lot of free space for free associations. The backgrounds on which the shapes appear are usually red, brick red, orange, or gray. A gray outline on a gray background is practically the ideal of imperceptible painting.

There are some contradictions in her work. He uses strong colors but doesn't really want it to be visible. Strong colors are not her ideal. But then again, how can you talk about feelings and emotions without using contrasting colors?

Further analysis is offered by the international art portal - "Malina's paintings raise important questions: in which directions does a modern woman have to go in order to achieve her ideal self? Do hands, feet and legs matter? Do breasts and buttocks count? Can the meaning of the female form survive after stretching and satisfying the whims of the artist?”

The artist herself admits: “I ask myself, when are we women so deeply? Maybe it's courage in constantly asking the most important questions and in uncompromising answers? I think everyone feels it's women's time. These acts show our often hidden, true selves, a range of feelings. And despite the fact that they have been deliberately deformed, they are beautiful. Because it comes from within them, from their strength.