An artist once described the surface of a painting as “an open window through which the historia is observed”. Through this window, we can view scenes whose sequence of events seems clear and comprehensible, and whose protagonists are caught in the heat of events. Freeze-framed for eternity, they are unable to escape the gaze that follows them, the penetrating stares. In relation to the painting, the viewer becomes Atlas, the creator of the fragment of the world depicted within the frames. In this situation, the human spectator is the measure of all things, and the figure shown on the canvas is their sweet miniature, a caricature from a street artist. 

But what to do when the systems of measurements and principles known so far are no longer applicable? When painting no longer presents familiar stories based on traditional principles? Then it turns out that Atlas carrying the globe is a dung beetle, and the window must remain closed due to adverse weather. Following this line of thought, we can say that Cyryl Polaczek’s painting is a space for improvisation, a source of fun originating from a sequence of free associations.

Landscape, meteorological phenomena, fauna and flora start playing tricks on the eye. They become a parody that is an anthropomorphic spectacle of nature. Lightnings in the sky are a pair of lovers running across the horizon. Pearls emerge from the sea in the form of necklaces. Dandelions are immortalised in a dancing procession. The leitmotifs in Cyryl Polaczek’s work create a story like in a popular and much-loved song. The refrains sound familiar, while the stanzas surprise with plot twists. Outside the window, we see only extraordinary mirages, and our well-being is entrusted to a fish scale hidden deep in the wallet. What a wonderful world.

Franciszek Smoręda