Marzena Wodziak, Halka, 2020

acrylics, canvas, total size: 100 x 240 cm signed and dated l.d. (each panel): Marzena/Wodziak '20 signed, dated and inscribed on the reverse: (left panel) Marzena Wodziak 2020/"I skądże Ty tak wodziś śmiesz..."; (center panel) Marzena Wodziak 2020/ "Strange Some Girl"; (right panel) Marzena Wodziak 2020/ "And You See Jontek, What Were You For...".

Marzena Wodziak (1991, Zakopane) Works in painting, sculpture and stage design. Graduate of the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts at the Department of Stage Design. In 2011-2012 she studied sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdansk. Graduate of the Kenar School in Zakopane (diploma 2011). She presented her works in a group exhibition at Monat Gallery in Madrid, at the art fair in Paris and in Venice ( 2021). The paintings were created in the year affected by the pandemic. Returning to the place of birth organically triggered the need to create and reach out to local subjects related to the culture of Podhale. The need to explore family histories, to find a link between intergenerational traditions strongly rooted in Podhale is now the main inspiration. He synthesizes his mountain landscapes and figurative paintings, trying to identify the essence of the chosen motif. In doing so, he refers to the tradition of Young Poland painting, Zofia Stryjeńska and Władysław Strzemiński. The Halka triptych was created in reference to Stanislaw Moniuszko's opera. It is also part of a larger series of portraits titled All Souls. Other paintings in the series refer to fictional characters taken from Podhale folk songs, theater dramas and members of her family.