WŁADYSŁAW BORZĘCKI - Sculptures in Wood

All his life Władysław Borzęcki lived in perfect coexistence with nature, both as a man and artist. Much ahead of the current ideas chracteristic of the environmental movement, he would implement the 3Rs (Reuse, Reduce and Recycle) in his everyday life. As an artist, he also continuously drew his artistic inspiration from nature. Many of his sculptures and bas-reliefs are indeed very deeply rooted in nature. For instance, the Existences series was inspired by illustrations of bacteria that the artist saw in his old encyclopaedias.

"But presentations of microbes, raised to the level of artistic expression, lose their original biological character. Their internal structure, complicated interlacing of vital organs, are brought down to the role of ornaments. And yet, the texture of wood imposes its own organization, no fragment of the surface is left unattended, the 'life of the wood' is sustained. As if it was pulsating under the artist's chisel, even in moments when there seemed to have been no artistic intervention. And as a whole, these works cease to take hold of the viewer as fragments of reality. They become abstractions."

(Excerpt from Łukasz Gazur's essay about the artist included in WŁADYSŁAW BORZĘCKI - Artist who heard the call of wood, Bernardinum, Pelplin 2019, p. 19. English translation-Olga and Wojciech Kubińscy.)

Some of the Works of Art from the Existences series by Władysław Borzęcki displayed in his Gallery and in Private Collections. All the sculptures are carved in wood.

Some of the Works of Art, all in wood, from the Flowers series displayed in Władysław Borzęcki's Gallery and in Private Collections.

Władysław Borzęcki believed that nature was the best artist so he took advantage of what she provided - natural shapes of wood and coarseness of its texture. In his art, he always incorporated what otherwise might have seemed to be natural imperfections of wood. This enhanced the unique character of many of his sculptures. He works in wood which has its imperfections. And he knows how to use them. He extracts the coarseness of wood's texture, inscribing in it the shapes of his flowers, as if he made allowances for the existence of 'real nature' in his art... (Gazur, p. 16.)

Some of the Works of Art, all carved in wood, from the Flowers series displayed in Władysław Borzęcki's Gallery and in Private Collections.

Some of the Works of Art, all in wood, from the Fish series displayed in Władysław Borzęcki's Gallery and in Private Collections.

Four Large Fish Carved in Wood - Wall Display in the Artist's Gallery