Venus, concrete, metal, 2020

The Garden
Sculpture Project

“The Garden Sculpture Project” has emerged as a unique fusion of craft and fine art. This innovative venture combines delicate sewing techniques with the raw strength of concrete, resulting in a series of sculptural pieces that challenge conventional notions of form and material.

The project is about object creation, conceived as a comprehensive exploration of texture, shape, and the intersection between soft and hard materials. Merging sewing techniques with concrete casting creates a dialogue about duality, transformation, and the hidden potentials within familiar mediums.

Critical Aspects of the Project

“The Garden Sculpture Project” is designed to showcase technical skills while posing fundamental questions about the nature of sculpture, the role of chance in art-making, and the interplay between masculine and feminine elements in creative processes. The following sections will examine the critical aspects of this project and its ambitious artistic goals.

Artistic Heritage in Form-Making
Sewing techniques, conveyed via telephone by the artist’s mother, also an artist, are utilized to create intricate fabric shells. These forms are designed to serve as both mould and integral parts of the final sculpture, introducing an element of softness and organic shape to the rigid concrete. The project also draws inspiration from the artist’s uncle, a professor of sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, thus incorporating a rich familial artistic legacy into its conceptual framework.

Symbolism and Feminine Archetypes
The sculptures evoke references to the sculpture (amulet) Venus of Willendorf, exploring themes of femininity, motherhood, and sexuality. Their rounded, organic forms echo prehistoric fertility figures. At the same time, the juxtaposition of soft fabric impressions with hard concrete creates a dialogue between traditional notions of femininity and the strength inherent in motherhood. This layered approach to form and meaning ties the creator’s artistic lineage to broader, timeless themes in art history and human experience.

Concrete Casting
The fabric forms are filled with concrete, allowing the liquid stone to be shaped by the cloth’s organic contours. This process is characterized by a delicate balance between control and chance, as the weight and flow of the concrete are allowed to interact unpredictably with the fabric.

Metal Incorporation
Subtle metal elements are integrated into some pieces, by which structural support and visual contrast are added. A third material dynamic is thus introduced to the soft-hard interplay of fabric and concrete.

Randomness as a Creative Element
Controlled randomness shapes the fabric forms and allows concrete to settle within them. This element of chance is considered crucial to the project, as it ensures the uniqueness and unrepeatability of each sculpture.

Artistic Goals

• The potential of unconventional material combinations in sculpture is explored.
• Traditional “hard” and “soft” concepts in three-dimensional art are challenged.
• New forms of sculptural expression that blur the lines between craft and fine art are investigated.
• The relationship between human intention and material properties in art-making is reflected upon
• The unpredictability and organic nature of form in sculpture are celebrated.

Through “The Garden Sculpture Project,” viewers are invited to reconsider their preconceptions about materials, techniques, and the nature of sculptural art. The inherent tension between the soft fabric forms and the hard concrete within creates a continuous dialogue of contrasts, positioning the viewer as a witness to a frozen moment of material transformation. Not only is technical innovation demonstrated, but a profound exploration of form, texture, and the nature of sculpture in contemporary art practice is undertaken.

Venus, concrete, 2020
Venus, painted, concrete, 2020
Venus II, concrete, 2020
Sex Doll, concrete, 2020