On Thursday 1 February 2018, our newest exhibition ‘Embedded’ by Wioletta Kulewska and curated by Sandra Zaffarese was launched in the renovated galleries of Palazzo de La Salle. The event was very well-attended and the feedback was very positive for the Malta-based Polish artist.
Here are a few snaps from Opening Night. Further details of opening dates and times can be found below.
Dates:
Preview: Thursday 1st February 2018 – 19:00 – 22:00
Open to the general public: 2nd February – 1st March 2018
Time: Monday to Friday from 8:30-19:00, Saturdays from 8:30-13:30
Venue: Art Galleries, Palazzo de La Salle, 219, Republic Street, Valletta
Facebook Event: www.facebook.com/events/498653517200121
A collection of abstract, biomorphic paintings by Wioletta Kulewska, inspired by the marine fossil remains found inside Maltese limestone.
From its greensand beaches, its coralline cliffs, to the limestone used in the construction of its buildings — all the rock found in the Maltese archipelago contains petrified lifeforms.
Like an ancient fabric of memories, the prehistoric life recorded in Maltese rock dates back some 35 million years.
Painting in oils with use of gold leaf, and using a technique of printing plaster sculpture directly onto the canvas, Kulewska recreates the elemental process of fossilisation, and explores themes of embodiment, resemblance and disappearance.
The vestiges of these prehistoric lifeforms inspire a series of meditations in oil — on fragility, the infinite and the sublime.
Biography
Wioletta Kulewska is a Polish artist who has been living and working in Valletta since 2008. Kulewska is a graduate of the Department of Fine Arts & Display Design at the High School of Arts in Opole, Poland, as well as the Academy of Fine Arts, Wroclaw and London Metropolitan University, UK.
In 2017 she completed a Painting in Contemporary practice course at the Slade School of Fine Arts in London.
Her process is rooted in the close forensic studio observation of natural phenomena but she also employs a spontaneous method of ‘on-the-spot’ figurative painting.
In her current exhibition she uses the patterns of marine fossils as a starting point for her explorations in paint and print reliefs.
‘Embedded’ is her first solo painting exhibition in Malta.
