Anna Orłowska

The Chandelier 1, pigment print on archive paper, mounted on Dibond, frame of birch plywood with burl finish, 2020 

The Chandelier 2, pigment print on archive paper, mounted on Dibond, frame of birch plywood with burl finish, 2020 

The Chandeliers diptych came about while working on the exhibition Flatlets at the Gdańsk City Gallery (2020), as part of a series of photographs documenting the interiors of the nearby Uphagen House—an eighteenth-century bourgeois residence. Focusing on the detail so characteristic of her work, the artist delves into the history of the site and the traces of its transformations. The Uphagen House, which has served as a museum since the early twentieth century, was destroyed during the military operations of 1945, alongside most of the historical buildings of the Old Town. Rebuilt in 1946–54, it retained only fragments of the original parts—the rest is made of contemporary materials, covered with reclaimed period ornaments. Sensitive to formal incongruities, Orłowska analyzes the ways in which historical continuity and the memory of the place have been constructed, revealing the subtle tensions between layers of history. The decorative chandelier captured here also becomes a universal motif, found in decorative spaces both public and private, such as palace, opera, or theater interiors. 

Vessel, gelatin silver print, mounted on Dibond, black wooden frame, UV glass, cotton crochet, 2022 

Vessel is from the Sankt Anna series (2022), in which two narratives intertwine: a tale of Mount St. Anne and its multilayered material and spiritual culture, and the artist’s family history, represented by the line of Silesian women who came before her. In the photograph, the site resembles a shell-shaped holy water font. The soft form is reminiscent of an underbelly and, by the same token, of motherhood. A special place in the symbolism of the mountain is occupied by the matron figure: St. Anne is accompanied by the Mother of God and the Child Jesus. One practice associated with the medieval figure of St. Anne is dressing her in ceremonial robes, which change according to the liturgical calendar. Orłowska draws on this gesture by going to family keepsakes and subjecting them to a variety of transformations: she cuts and sews, starches, and dyes in a nearby spring. Her raw, black-and-white photography is “dressed” in a soft knitted dress that partially obscures the image. In this way, she goes beyond traditional photography to create photographic objects. The cultural and ritual references in the series intermingle with personal memories, especially those focused on time spent with loved ones.