Impression of Certain Sense of Purpose – Several Points of View
Sylwester Ambroziak. He is one of the most significant Polish sculptors. He has been following his own path. He has been striving neither for acclaim, nor to display his work. The exhibitions by him, once they happen, turn into real events. He has been outside commercial trends. His works are of a strong impact, characterized by intrinsic to him type of poetic expression and sensitivity.
WiK – Wood “keeps pace” with your outlook at a human being; his reactions, his life, what is important about it, what one is fighting for or what one is losing… This approach is quite warm, at the same time expressive, thus combining the physical and the spiritual.
Sylwester Ambroziak – Wood extends to me a contemporary element and a way to express myself, an opportunity to discover what is essential, what moves me deeply, what does not allow me to keep silent. The vividness, temperature and certain unbreakable links of the relations between nature and a human being have compelled me to chose this way of presenting a sculpture, as something precious since I constantly believe in the quality of this branch of art. This could be one of the reasons for my loyalty and remaining faithful to the means of expression an my way of working. All the time, from the beginning till the end, I have been attempting to make art guided by a certain sense of purpose; with hope and belief that I have been constantly developing in the course of a creative process.
– Nearly all your figures show similar facial expressions. However, when you add a gesture, whole iconography, a setting, a topic – the facial expression changes accordingly.
– It differs, following the motives I am dealing with. While presenting a topic, I suggest possibilities of its multiple interpretation, from various angles, though in fact, there can be only just one point of view… A certain degree of standardization of faces and heads that you mentioned, helps me talk about vital issues, calling for courage and maturity, quite often simply about a kind attitude towards life and people. It seems to me that an apparent anonymity of my characters lets viewers strike a better dialogue with the work, perhaps learn new facts about themselves, other man, about human interrelations that outline the picture of our existence, here and now, earlier or later.
– Do you name your characters?
– For me, they are just humans – lost, sad, awkward – though sincere. Also, I perceive myself.
– It might be the reason for the fact that your works can be looked at and understood without theoretical knowledge, without an insight into the Old and New Testament iconographic motives and plots, without the whole art heritage. These are the works one would like to look at again, decipher them, though frequently your art is deeply disturbing…
- It is impossible to put aside and forget the knowledge and analogies coming to mind regardless of our will, but depending upon the information gathered in the course of one’s life, depending upon a cognitive process and observations. If in fact, I have succeeded in reaching an understanding with my audience, if my art is communicating with them, this could be because of a sincere approach, and unveiling what has frequently been hidden deeply in ourselves, what we have been scared to dig out.
Human fate happens to be deeply moving. It is true that in spite of the progress of civilization, technology and the media bombarding us from every direction, certain values, desires, temptations have remained unchanged. Being aware of this truth lets me apply some attributes, topics and motives; and impose on them my own way of looking and thinking. Sculpture is my inner voice translated into the language of art which is for me exactly what a word is for poetry, namely the art of gesture, form and expression.
- There are opinions that reflecting on life and its problems is devoid of any joy. You do not lack a sense of humor …
- One cannot help that we start dying at the very moment of being born. We can only strive to take the best advantage possible of the time we had been offered. One can live fully through each day, perceive the beauty. After all, apart from our actions, we do not have much influence on what is going on. I and my art have been governed by the same rules; it is up to me if my sculpture is good, but I cannot determine how it is going to be received.
- You mentioned form and that you spend a lot of time working on your topic. Does the artist’s craftsmanship influence the work quality, its definition as “goodness”? How would you identify a creative process?
- I understand a creative process in an archetypical sense. For me, it is a struggle with inner self, but also a way of seeing – extremely deep, permeated with sensitivity and a sense of awareness. Today, the value of the word “creating” has faded. Artists frequently seem to be lost. It is often proved by the need for the authors to explain their own works, otherwise the works would have been illegible. Craftsmanship only? I do not know, if it is as important as I used to believe before. If one has nothing to say, even the best craftsmanship will be of little help, and ….. a “masterpiece” remains empty. For me, the sense and experience of space is the most important with regard to sculpture. Sometimes, I feel as though this feature marked the path in a certain invisible manner, as though it indicated the direction and choice of this very medium – my way of expression with my hands, since if I could speak beautifully, I would be a poet..
- You say a lot about beauty, but you do not embellish your works.
- My works speak mainly about the inner, spiritual beauty, and this is the sort of beauty I am interested in. I do speak about essential things. The most essential is that the work should not be nondescript – not all have to like it but if the work of art does not pass unnoticed …… it is quite a lot. I speak so much about human beings because I simply like people, though I like myself considerably less.
- Is physical beauty a determining factor?
- Sometimes, it is just empty…
Interview conducted by Helena Sienkiewcz.
AuthorizedWiK 6/2003 (18)