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Ewelina Skowronska Exhibition

逸文 itsubun − Fragments of Beauty
2020.7.20-8.10

Ewelina Skowronska exhibition "逸文  itsubun - Fragments of Beauty” is the first solo exhibition by the Polish visual artist at Spiral. The show will present her ceramic pieces as well as new prints of the series “if not, winter” she has developed at Art Village Shirakino  residency in Nagasaki, Japan. This body of work is inspired by fragments of poems by an Ancient Greece poetess, Sappho, who has been the subject of her interest, in developing aspects related to sexuality, desire, body, experience and identity.
 
The works of Ewelina Skowronska encompass in their essence that all women, regardless of skin color, body shape or cultural background, are equally strong and beautiful. At the core of this series is the female figure that she draws in a bold composition with gentle colors. By exploring the body in its physicality and sensuality, she obtains figures always fragmented, and on the edge of the figurative and abstract. 
 
The poetess Sappho of the island of Lesbos was living around 600 years BCE,  Ewelina Skowronska views her works as “lyrics depicting feminine beauty, desire and rejecting the world of masculine warfare”. Most of Sappho’s work which survived time, remains in fragmentary form and it is these fragments that the artists has interpreted as fragments within our Self and gave a shape to, in her works.
 
Can you feel echoing within you the untimely message conveyed by Ewelina Skowronska in response to Sappho’s poems?
We are confident that, in these uncertain times, the works of Ewelina Skowronska will inspire you to better days.
 
This exhibition is proposed onsite and on Spiral website, to connect you with the experience of Art, from anywhere.

Message from the artist

「逸文」 (itsubun) - unknown or partly lost piece of writing, a sentence that has been lost and cannot be transmitted anymore, an excellent or beautiful text.

The Self is a puzzling concept as are mental, mind, and consciousness, however we all are sure that we have our own distinctive Self. But is it really ours? Was it created during our live through deliberated choices? Or maybe there are also different pieces; remains that influence who we are?

Reading fragments of poems written by Sappho, the earliest and most famous Greek woman poet, living and creating around 600 BCE on the island of Lesbos, makes me wonder about what is absent and what is present in the idea of Self. Out of around 10,000 lines of Sappho's poetry only 2 full poems remain, the rest of what we have access today are just fragments, small pieces of text and the unknowns, missing gaps … giving an opportunity for new personal interpretations.
“if not, winter”  is a new body of work created mostly during my artist residency at Shirakino Art Village in Nagasaki prefecture (Japan), early in 2020. The series, inspired by fragments of Sappho - lyrics depicting feminine beauty, desire and rejecting the world of masculine warfare - explores issues connected with gender, identity, and sexuality. Drawing from personal experience, I am interested in subjects connecting with the experience of living within the body, and the ways gender and sexuality intersect to form complex identities. 
Much is left to the imagination in Sappho's fragments of poetry. These fragments give to think about the language, as being both shared and personal.
What are the contemporary meanings of the words spoken centuries ago and how do they resonate within our Self in the unsure context we are living in?

Ewelina Skowronska

“thatʼs me, thatʼs me, thatʼs me" - "if not, winter” series - (ed.10), 2020, hand pulled screen print and airbrush on Izumi paper, 500 x 700 mm (each), each print is signed and numbered by the artist
■ About

Ewelina Skowronska Exhibition
逸文 itsubun - Fragments of beauty


Date: 20(mon) - 31(fri) July 2020       11:00-20:00
     1(sat) - 10(mon) August 2020   11:00-19:00
※ From August 1st, the venue will close at 19:00 
Venue: MINA-TO(Spiral 1F)
Contact information: +81(0)3-3498-4015(MINA-TO)
Supported by: Adam Mickiewicz Institute, Polish Institute in Tokyo

※Please note that the contents of the exhibition may change without notice.
Please check the top page of our store before visiting us.

※Admission may be restricted depending on how crowded the venue is.

■ Online Gallery

To present you with the experience of art from anywhere, this exhibition works are also displayed online.

For you convenience you can contact MINA-TO by e-mail to purchase Ewelina Skowronska's pieces. If you would like to purchase or make an inquiry, please contact us at : mina-to@spiral.co.jp. Please note that some pieces appearing on the website may have already been sold in store.

* Interior Simulation made with CANVY

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■ Profile
Ewelina Skowronska
Visual artist and print maker, born in Poland in 1980, she currently lives and works in Tokyo. After having an accomplished career in advertising, Ewelina decided to fully dedicate herself to art in 2013. She retrained and specialised in visual arts at University of The Arts London where she graduated with distinction in 2015.
Ewelina's work has been exhibited in London, Ireland, USA, Canada, Poland, and Japan. In 2017, she was awarded the Print Prize by ST Bridge Foundation, and in 2018 she was shortlisted for Ashurst Emerging Artist Prize 2018. Her prints are in the collection of VA Museum London, UK; Guanlan Printmaking Museum, Guanlan, China and many more. She has also participated in numerous residency programs such as Women's Studio Workshop (New York, 2017), Kala art Institute (San Francisco, 2018), Banff Center for Arts and Creativity (Banff (Canada), 2019) and Art Village Shirakino (Nagasaki, Japan), 2020.
Artist Website
@Ewelello
■ Making Of video

The creative process with Ewelina Skowronska

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