MY PAINTINGS AND VIDEOS DEAL WITH THINGS YOU CAN'T NAME. IF YOU DO, THEY SEEM TRIVIAL AND STUPID. THEY TOUCH ON A CERTAIN SENSITIVITY, A PREMONITION, THIS DELICATE AREA OF LIFE THAT IS DIFFICULT TO ADDRESS DIRECTLY. SOMETIMES I COMPARE ART TO RELIGION. THEY ARE BOTH LANGUAGES THAT TRY TO DESCRIBE AND RESPOND TO THESE SENSITIVITIES APPARENT IN OUR LIVES. I BELIEVE THAT THERE IS MORE TO LIFE THAN WHAT WE CAN EMPIRICALLY EXPERIENCE WITH OUR fiVE SENSES. I TRUST PLATO WHEN HE COMPARES OUR EXPERIENCE OF THE WORLD TO JUST MERE REFLECTIONS OF WHAT THERE ACTUALLY IS.
COLD BROWNS, DEEP HUES OF BLUE, AND FAINT COLORS EVOKE THE EXPERIENCE OF GROWING UP IN A POST COMMUNIST COUNTRY WHERE COLOR WAS ALMOST A LUXURY. MY LANDSCAPE CONSISTED OF TATRA MOUNTAINS, COMMUNIST HOUSING COMPLEXES, AND AMERICANIZED POLISH TV. AFTER MOVING TO THE UNITED STATES, THE AMERICAN FANTASY BECAME REALITY WHILE EASTERN EUROPE TURNED INTO AN INDIVIDUALLY FABRICATED MYTH AND A FAIRY TALE WHICH CONTINUES TO PROVOKE THE IRRESISTIBLE FEELINGS OF NOSTALGIA.
MARYSIA GACEK
