Transcript
My first pictures from my parents' archive date back to when I was 2 years old. I was quite a sickly child and I often spent time away from home undergoing various types of treatments. I think these forced retreats made painting my communication tool and my medicine.
And then there was my youth... Dreams of power... I wanted to be a famous painter. I studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, I explored the nature of painting, I dabbled in some abstraction, I met other painters, and it seemed to me that the bohemian life was my destiny. However, it was only when I started painting people that a breakthrough occurred. I felt that something really important was happening in my studio. Days were no longer similar, and each painting process began to bring an element of fulfillment into my everyday life.
I remember the first time... I was somewhere in the metropolitan scenery, drinking coffee, or maybe finishing a meal... I don't remember. My eyes scanned the surroundings, taking advantage of the fact that I could blend in with the crowd. I used to like it very much. I remember suddenly coming across someone's ambiguous grimace; there was an undefined look in it, an unreadable facial expression. I felt like I wanted to capture that nuance with every cell of my body. It was a signal from the depths of the human being - I clearly saw it. I realized then that I'm supposed to approach people expressing my intentions directly and asking for a meeting. Without business cards, without translating this energy into sacred "never". It ended with many hours of painting, and sometimes even with many years of posing and friendship. Over time, I began to realize that my painting was not only about creating images. As a matter of fact, it is a kind of process in which certain tension is released - tension I recognized at first only as my own, but it turned out that while painting, similar blockages were also released in people on the other side of the easel. Suddenly, people started telling me that they felt relief, a kind of freedom, liberation... Sometimes, many years later, I would meet someone who had posed for me and I'd find out that after our shared experience, he had the courage to do things he has always secretly dreamed of and that he finally managed to overcome his fears and lack of self-confidence.
I realized that there is a PROCESS going on while painting. It can be called various ways - therapy, self-regulation - a process that takes place outside the rational mind, beyond any calculation or assessment. This happens thanks to focus and attention that move us, that is, me and the model, into a state of awareness. It's as simple as it is difficult at the same time. Although I knew about this phenomenon from the books of my old and modern teachers, from the books of mystics, shamans, psychologists... Now, however, I experience it firsthand in my studio.
I decided to study Art Therapy. I thought I would learn more about what I couldn't comprehend with my mind. Instead, I found out that this knowledge cannot be passed on. It can only be acquired through personal experience and observations. However, these studies were not a waste of time. I learned methods of therapeutic work through broadly understood art: music therapy, dance therapy, sound therapy, drama... I observe in practice how these tools I learned during my studies effectively support the breaking of subsequent shells that obscure access to the truth, about who we are and what we can do with it. Reaching the source helps me take actions in which I feel deep meaning and fulfillment, but also joy and lightness. These emotions are shared by everyone who goes on a creative journey with me.
I moved to the countryside and I switched from Wi-Fi to a new network full of resonances: a network of nature, of my own resources and my own reason for living. I recognized my own path and now I know that painting from an early age was not only an act of expression, but also a form of healing - once only for myself, and now also for others.
And here I am working today with people in Łapicze. I organize individual sessions which are of a secluded nature; they are a kind of self-assurance in the context of art; they include work with the body through collage, dynamic meditations, chakra cleansing, drinking herbs, shamanic practices - including songs of power - incensing, sound massage, rapé ceremonies, cocoa ceremonies, and work with fire. Indeed - these are rituals that some people need to get used to first. On the other hand, they greatly support looking inside oneself and thus facilitate the joint creation.
The creative process of reconstruction by posing for a painting takes 5 days and unfolds as follows: in the first phase, there is work with the body, sound, voice, imagination - everything that a person needs at a given moment. Sketches are also created at this time. I draw people under the influence of the emotions we both perceive. I act like a mirror. After the session I give all sketches free of charge to the person who came here. Then we move on to painting. I choose the type of support based on how I resonate with a given person and what urges to come to the surface. I most often work on canvas or transparent or black polycarbonate plates. The final phase is the presentation of the finished painting and the cocoa ceremony. The portrait is the material culmination of the art therapy process and a kind of certificate of Your disclosure to Your personal NOVUM. You can purchase the painting with a twenty percent discount; it contains a kind of process memorandum with a lot of information for You. It is something that can also be called a talisman which manifests the power of transformation. You can also stop at just the effects of the change, although I must admit that those portrayed establish such an intimate relationship with their painted image that it is rare for them to leave Łapicze without a canvas under their arms; I can say more: many people feel that one stay is not enough and they come back for more.
I welcome everyone with open arms - both new and returning people who want to meet their true SELVES.
