patinated bronze, 45 × 25 × 10 cm, edition number and artist’s mark engraved on the base of the sculpture
Branches from the Bór Forest near Głogów Małopolski, close to where the artist grew up, cast in bronze. This is the same forest that provided the material for the installation *Chrust*, exhibited at the POLIN Museum. Today, the forest borders the Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport, one of NATO’s main logistics hubs on its eastern flank. In his childhood, the forest was called the “dog cemetery.” It was only years later that the artist learned it concealed the graves of victims of the Nazi genocide. Between 1939 and 1944, more than five thousand people, mostly Jews, were murdered here. The castings were created using the artist’s own method. The original branch is burned away, and the hollow space left behind becomes a mold that is filled with bronze. The metal replicates every detail of the bark and fractures, and traces of carbon from the tree that grew in this forest remain in its structure. The branch disappears, but its matter remains trapped in the cast.
Łukasz Surowiec is an interdisciplinary artist: a sculptor, performer, set designer, video artist, and creator of social initiatives. He graduated from the Department of Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków and also studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznań and the Universität der Künste in Berlin. In his objects and artistic interventions, Surowiec delves into and examines current social relations, while also addressing historical and political issues. The artist rejects traditional categories and classifications in favor of intermedia works that explore the human condition within contemporary socioeconomic contexts. In his works, he seeks to draw attention to marginalized social groups and their problems, including historical events seemingly buried in the past. He also explores issues related to memory in his work. His art takes the form of a method for understanding public reality, with a focus on marginalized individuals. In his artistic practice, he addresses current social issues, extending his work beyond the walls of official art institutions. He is a fellow of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and a winner of the prestigious Spojrzenia competition for young artists (2017). He has participated in numerous exhibitions in Poland and abroad, including the 7th Berlin Biennale (2012), *Dziady*, Bunkier Sztuki (2013), *What Can Be Seen – Polish Art Today*, MSN, Warsaw (2014), *Entrance to the Port*, Museum of Emigration, Gdynia (2016), and *Late Polishness*, Ujazdowski Castle Center for Contemporary Art, Warsaw (2017).
