Tomasz M. KUKAWSKI (PL)
Text written by GHA
Tomasz M. Kukawski’s black and white linocuts in large formats show pixelated protagonists with disturbing facial expressions.
Contrasts and shades form close-ups of loneliness in pixelated textures. The tight compositions and the frequent appearance of bars that divide the images leave a claustrophobic feeling of being trapped and having to conquer insurmountable distances to reach another person. The close perspectives deny clarity and overview, leaving only the unsettling proximity of faces disintegrating into pixels. Pointing to contemporary digital phenomena, the pixelated texture might even resemble a binary code, as if the faces are partially uploaded or caught in the process of erasure, leaving behind ghostly, incomplete and only half-existent identities.
The urban-looking scenario of barriers seems to separate individuals from each other, reinforcing the feeling of isolation. As confusion, despair and even fear dominate the facial expressions of the figures, the prints convey a disorientating sense of movement, alienation and loss, leaving the characters trapped in a confused and fractured world. The images challenge the viewer to engage with themes of media influence, time and space, and to consider whether the digital brings people closer together or further apart in a pixelated modern existence.
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