| | |
Oolong Gallery recently presented Kinga Kielczynska: An Attempt at Soil Healing (Gala) at the inaugural NADA VILLA WARSAW
view in a separate browser
Warsaw, Poland – The New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA) hosted this groundbreaking event from May 15 to May 19, 2024, at the historic Villa Warszawa in Warsaw, Poland. Kielczynska debuted her site-specific installation titled “An Attempt at Soil Healing (Gala)” 2024, composed of various organic and industrial materials, creating an exhibition capture and commentary on environmental and economic sustainability. This installation was an entrance piece of the exhibition, marking a significant moment for both the artist and Oolong Gallery. A special thanks to Polish-British independent curator and art historian Marta Grabowska for acting as exhibitor on behalf of Oolong Gallery owner, director Eric Laine and artist Kinga Kielczynska.
- Materials: Unsold apple trees, salt, water, diffuser, ashes, nitrogen fertilizer, sand, soil, glass, wood trunks, metal, plumbing fixture
| The installation features a custom-made graduation tower (PL: tężnia) constructed from unsold 2-year-old Gala variety apple trees. The tower’s wooden structure allows saltwater to drip through the trees, creating a healing brine mist (PL: solanka). Surrounding the tower, visitors can sit on tree trunk seats to benefit from the therapeutic atmosphere. An aquarium filled with a cross-section of the terrain from Kępa Zawadowska, where the trees grew, stands nearby, displaying layers of organic matter resembling geological artifacts. | | |
Conclusions, Observations from the Artist
"While doing guided tours to press and others, the organizers were underlining the importance of having this installation outdoors by the entrance; for it to bring a notion of cleansing, purification to the visitors while entering a building with such a difficult past. They wanted it to be a sorcery gesture or a small symbolic ritual.
I see this work as an act of radical compassion towards the work of farmers and particularly my father as one of them. It brings attention to their labour and the fact that the fruits of their work do not get sold and need to be destroyed. I wanted to give the unsold trees second life, to appear in this exhibition and receive the honor they deserve. Additionally, I created the aquarium with the 'soil profile' from an area where the trees grow, bringing the notion of the circular transmission of matter: trees grow from the same soil they go back to after being discarded / burned, if not sold.
But this is what we were talking about there: the circular nature of matter and a need for respect towards the energy it requires and generates."
| |
About the Artist
Kinga Kielczynska (b. 1972, Warsaw) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work interrogates the relationship between humans and the environment. Educated in Spanish philology at Warsaw University and fine arts at Gerrit Rietveld Academy and Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam, Kielczynska utilizes video, text, drawing, and installation in her practice. Her works, which she refers to as "environments," extend into their contexts, often displayed outside traditional gallery settings. Kielczynska's exhibitions have spanned globally, including Exile Gallery (Berlin, Vienna), Manifesta 12 (Palermo), MoCAB (Belgrade), Warsaw Under Construction/MOMA (Warsaw), Mediamatic (Amsterdam), Oolong Gallery (Brooklyn, San Diego) and more.
|
Artist Statement
A DIY prototype of brine graduation tower with the soil profile of Kępa Zawadowska
Medium: Environment
Materials: Unsold apple trees of Gala variety, salt, water, diffuser, soil, ashes, hydrocomplex fertilizer, sand, glass, wood shavings, wood trunks, metal, plumbing fixture.
| | | For NADA Villa Warsaw, Oolong Gallery presents an installation by artist Kinga Kielczynska: a reinvention of the graduation tower made out of unsold apple trees. A graduation tower, or a thorn house is a structure originally used in salt production, removing water from a saline solution by evaporation, increasing its concentration of mineral salts. Traditionally, the tower consists of a wooden wall-like frame stuffed with bundles of brushwood. The saltwater runs down the tower, partly evaporating, and minerals are left behind on the brushwood twigs, releasing into the air. These minerals are believed to have healing qualities, benefiting the respiratory and nervous systems, similar to breathing in sea air. Graduation towers can be found in spa towns in Poland, and the artist chooses to work with apple trees instead of the typical blackthorn twigs. The 2-year-old trees are locally sourced from a tree nursery in Warsaw’s Kępa Zawadowska district. If not sold, these carefully cared-for trees are burnt, reflecting the agricultural economy's disturbance due to extractivist capitalist practices by large companies. | | | | pictured: KINGA KIELCZYNSKA with friends starring as the only entrance installation in NADA VILLA WARSAW 2024 | Alongside the graduation tower, the artist will present sculptural elements depicting a cross-section of the terrain of Kępa Zawadowska, where the trees were growing. Layers of various organic matters are enclosed in aquariums, resembling geological artifacts. The symbolism of the Graduation Tower's healing qualities is essential for the site's specificity, referencing NADA's location Willa Gawrońskich’s difficult past: the headquarters of the SS and police commander during WW2. Kinga Kiełczyńska has previously worked with organic leftovers and garden waste, creating temporary installations inside cars, including a collection of bouquets in car trunks. | pictured: organizers including Raster Gallery co-founder Michal Kaczynski and NADA founder Heather Hubbs |
"We were honored to present Kinga Kielczynska's thought-provoking work at NADA VILLA WARSAW 2024," said Eric Laine, Owner / Director of Oolong Gallery. "Her installation addresses pressing issues of ecological sustainability and the impact of capitalist practices on agriculture, offering a unique and immersive experience for visitors."
For more information on Kinga Kielczynska and her work, please visit Oolong Gallery's website or contact the gallery: info@oolongallery.com
Follow us on social media for updates:
Instagram: @oolongallery
For media inquiries, images, or to schedule an interview with Kinga Kielczynska, please contact the gallery.
Portfolio
1.https://exilegallery.org/artists/kinga-kielczynska/
2.videos:
https://vimeo.com/390692503
https://vimeo.com/kingakielczynska/courtesy-of-infinity?share=copy
Texts:
1.Feature in Lynx Art Magazine
https://contemporarylynx.co.uk/top-10-most-emergent-polish-female-visual-artists-now
2.Interview at the New Institute page:
https://thenew.institute/en/media/beyond-the-limit/respect-what-you-have
3.Interview Berlin Art Link:
https://www.berlinartlink.com/2023/07/07/interview-kinga-kielczynska-bialowieza-forest-poland-wilderness/
| | | | |