The Gardzienice Gallery invites you to LALKI / DOLLS, an exhibition of works by Katarzyna Hołda
The exhibition will be open until 28th February, 2014.
Admission to the exhibition is free of charge.
The exhibition is open Monday through Friday 11am-5pm
Curated by: Zuzanna Zubek-Gańska
Graphic design by: Jacek Gański
The exhibition showcases dolls for specific functions created as part of the following series:
MAGIC DOLLS are made for specific intentions:
Menstruation doll boosts energy level, creative and life powers.
Anat is the powerful and cruel Semitic goddess of love, fertility, sex, war and death. The doll enhances the sexual power of its female owner; in addition, it enhances her bravery, firmness, strength, effectiveness in both accomplishing her objectives and protecting her boundaries.
Aphrodite is a doll that helps the owner win support of the goddess for love life.
GODDESSES
I usually present them in action, often with attributes. Some of these goddesses relate to the traditional triad of moon goddesses described in Robert Graves’ “The Greek Myths.” The triad is a goddess in three persons (aspects): a white virgin (crescent moon), a red woman (full moon) and a black crone (waning moon).
Other dolls refer to more ancient representations:
The Aborigin doll represents Mother Earth (Great Goddess) who is in labour. I drew inspiration for the doll from an Aborigine cave painting that appears for a few seconds in the film “Baraka.”
Artemis, Kore, Perephone, Hecate are the Greek goddesses of soil, vegetation, death and rebirth (both physical and spiritual).
Kore was abducted, or – frankly speaking – raped and imprisoned by Hades, the God of the Underworld. In effect, she was forced to marry him. The moment she was married to him, she became Persephone - the Queen of the Underworld, Queen of the Dead, goddess of death. For me, Kore is basically the figure of a woman deprived of freedom and right to decide about herself; a woman subjected to violence; a sexual slave for whom her own sex and sexuality become the source of humiliation and enslavement. In some other sense, however, she personifies spiritual growth that starts with mental destruction; “defragmentation" followed by a “descent into the underworld” (in the sense of a mental state: a plunge into sorrow, also via introspection; entering the unknown, dark and painful spheres of the psyche). Finally, there is a rebirth into a new form (Kore turns into Persephone).
Kore with Labyrinth has a labyrinth-like serpent embroidered on her abdomen, which is a pre-Christian symbol of life, meditation, spiritual growth. Kore’s arms crossed over her chest express an attitude of withdrawal, a turn towards the inside – an inner spiritual journey round inner labyrinths.
Kore with Roses and Kore with Poppy Flowers are the dolls that refer to the moment when Kore was picking flowers (some say that these were poppy flowers symbolizing death and Persephone) and the earth opened and Hades emerged thereof. Everyone knows what happened next.
The doll of Persephone, the Queen of the Underworld, is made of purple fabric. Purple is the colour of kings; it also represents the goddess's female aspect (full moon).
Hecate is the guardian of Hades, goddess of magic and guide in spiritual journeys, who leads to enlightenment. She is Persephone’s companion. Her animals are black dogs. At the same time, black is the color of crone goddess ( waning moon). I like goddesses that contradict the stereotypical energy division into "feminine" (passive, accepting, soft) and "masculine" (active, designing, hard). Artemis, not to mention the aforesaid Anat, is a good example of active femininity that is by no means soft.
Artemis is an energetic goddess; she is a hunter and sportswoman, a herbalist, midwife and minder of animals. She is merciless, vengeful and guilty of more than one human death. Yet women prayed to her for pregnancy and good labour. As an archer, she symbolizes focusing on a target. My Artemis is made of grey cloth whose fair colour refers to white – the colour of the virgin goddess and crescent moon. The doll has a head of a doe or a dog (both animals are her totems). She has a crescent moon stitched to her right arm. Her six breasts are a reference to Artemis’ animal totems and to her function of the goddess of animals as well as to her number: 3. Beautiful statues that show Artemis the Feeder with numerous naked breasts have been preserved to this day. The doll’s attribute is a sack with sagebrush (artemisia), a plant consecrated to Artemis as the goddess of meadows and woods. Artemisia is a very feminine plant; it was used as a therapeutic herb, for example to deal with menstrual problems or, in certain mixtures, to cause abortion.
The Red Goddess of Woods does not symbolize any particular goddess; she combines features of different goddesses of soil and vegetation; she symbolizes instincts, being in harmony with the ecosystem as well as being close to animals and plants.
LIFE-DEATH-LIFE DOLLS:
These dolls personify the fundamental cycle of nature: birth-growth-maturity-decay-death-rebirth-growth-etc. The doll named Ann symbolizes growth, the Sarmatian doll stands for maturity, while Death represents what its name implies. The Sarmatian doll is an attempt at making a stylistic reference to the aesthetics typical of the old Polish nobility by combining heterogeneous elements, e.g. oriental elements (turban, exotically coloured shawl) with West European ones (Rococo stockings).
BIBLICAL DOLLS:
Judith is the Old Testament deliverer of Bethulia and slayer of Holofernes; in the Middle Ages she symbolized bravery and appropriate ideological conduct. In the centuries that followed, painters liked to represent her as a femme fatale. For me, she is a very complex character: she was brave and acted for a just cause, her mentality, however, resembled that of a secret agent. I am intrigued by her sexual ethics; particularly, the way she took advantage of sex to kill her enemy. This notwithstanding, I think that the parable can be construed as a symbolic description of internal processes or mental states.
WOMEN:
Craftswoman/Puppeteer is a portrait of a craftswoman, an artist. The flames embroidered on her legs, abdomen, heart and forehead symbolize, or enhance creativity, talent and creative passion.