Magdalena Moskwa

Magdalena Moskwa (b. 1967) deals with painting, photography, embroidery, creates objects-clothes of non-utilitarian character. In painting, photography and objects she is interested in deep psychological portrait in which the body is a form of reliquary – “a can for a spirit”. Her earlier works are quite close to the “classic” portrait images. But the point is not to give precisely the facial features, but to get the essence and energy. People from her paintings are stiffened and even “packed” in rigid forms. With this method of treating the characters, when the overall form is buckled and reserved, every little gesture – hand movement, lock of hair, small wounds, scratches of silver in the background – acquires a meaning and builds expression of the image. With time, next to images of people, parts of a body appeared in her paintings: hands and crannies of corporeality – ears, navel, eyes, tissues, intestines and strands of hair. These “fragments” depicted with care are also portraits, in the mind of the author – more intimate than facial likenesses. The painting techniques had changed together with the shift in subjects. In 2004 the canvas was replaced by a chalk mortar on the board, which allows the author for relief treatment of surface in order to give the illusion of pulsing, softness, warmth of a body, penetration into the picture, and installation of small objects, hair, membranes, illusive coatings and organs. Objects-clothes created by Magdalena Moskwa are form of mental suits, special costumes collecting imprints of the body. Rigid jackets which she has made since 2008 are a type of armor, which ties, but also protects, and they relate directly to the form of convex “shirts” from the images.