(b. 1990) Magdalena Gluszak - Holeksa is a Polish visual artist currently based in Hertfordshire, UK. Through painting she explores human speculation of the ‘unknown’ and the processes of making the unfamiliar familiar, as experienced in the pursuit of human identity. She is interested in the transformative tension of being ‘in-between’ in relation to memory and space. This tension is explored through the use of cinematic imagery influenced by the surrealist movement within photography and collage. Merging the lines between fiction and reality, her works resist clear interpretation, reflecting a non – linear approach to the suggested narratives and metaphors. Bringing together the digitised and painterly, organic and geometric, and prismatic colours and deep shadows her imagery gestures towards the edges of conscious reasoning and uncertainty.
About
The natural environment is a central feature of my childhood memories and has become a starting point in my exploration of identity. This sense of identity oscillates between the past and the ever-becoming of the present moment. The edges of conscious perception soften, giving way to what might seem subconscious or beyond our current awareness. I consider the mechanics of memory, specifically inherited memory, through the alchemical process of painting. In my approach to painting any sense of control over forms and colours continually evolves and shifts. This uncertain state of mind is reflected in the tension between shadows and electric colours, fluid forms and ambiguous settings, together rendering a dream-like realm. The compositions are initially collaged from family photographs, staged self-portraits and found images online: bringing together that which is documented, remembered, staged and imagined to create transitory moments within the canvas. The spaces formed on the canvas merge elements of landscape, body parts and man-made structures.
Do we belong to where we came from or where we are going? My experience of living between cultures and countries, belonging to both but not being at home within either, induced an impulse to question my experience of time, memory and body within particular locations. Moving in-between places, both literal and psychological, is signalled in my paintings by the nomadic nature of abstracted forms which are contrasted with figurative elements. These figures act as ‘anchors’. They are never fully one thing, but instead waver and un-become. The familiar parts of the paintings hold both hope and loss, and reinforce the importance of un-learning: both within the creative process and in the relationships between the self and the other.
Exhibitions
2021 (Upcoming) Correspondence 01, Letchworth Broadway Gallery & Exeter Phoenix Gallery, UK
(Upcoming) Re:store Re:new Re:imagine, Willesden Gallery, London
Re:store Re:new Re:imagine (online), Willesden Gallery, London
2020 36th Annual Open Exhibition (online), Southwark Park Galleries, London
Emergent Vision, Uncovered Collective, Safe house, London
(Postponed) Three Landscapes, The Art Spaces, Islington, London
2019 ARTIQ The Graduate Art Prize, Herbert Smith Freehills, London
Capsticks Solicitors PLC, Wimbledon
Orbit UK Art Graduates Show, OXO Tower Wharf, London
Postopia, Ugly Duck, London
Who Will Provide?, Crypt Gallery, London
2018 Window 71, Broad Lane, London
Beyond The Pale, LOFT, London
Chance, Chelsea College of Arts, London
Uncertainty, Wimbledon College of Arts, London
2017 (Solo) Rozczlonkowanie (Dismemberment), COK 'Dom Narodowy', Cieszyn, Poland
2014 TURF, OXO Tower Wharf, London
2012 Bar - Tur Award, Paradise Row Gallery, London
Education
2017 / 19 MFA Fine Arts, Wimbledon College of Arts, University of the Arts London (Distinction)
2011 / 14 BA (Hons) Photography, Arts University Bournemouth
2010 / 11 Foundation Degree in Art and Design, Byam Shaw School of Art, Central Saint Martins
Awards and competitions
2019 ARTIQ Art Graduate Prize, Shortlist
Hix Award, London, Longlist
Jackson's Open Painting Prize, London, Shortlist
2018 Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation, 2nd Emerging Artist Grant, Canada
2017 Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation, 1st Emerging Artist Grant, Canada
2011 Bar-Tur Award Annual Photography Competition, 2nd place in 'Lifestyles' category
Publications and interviews
2020 Artists Responding To..., Issue 4, publication; www.artistsrespondingto.co.uk
2019 Saatchi Art Rising Stars, publication; www.saatchiart.com