Returning 2013
NG Gallery

A recent visit to her homeland has deeply stirred Mariola Smarzak and resulted in the creation of a nostalgic and moving body of work:Returning. Smarzak's abstract landscapes evoke a mood rather than places or objects. Forms reminiscent of leafless trees and charcoal cobwebs drift across grey and burnt sienna spaces. The densely layered canvasses, washed out with diluted paint, become faded, muted and ultimately mysterious. Smarzak's work has a distinct poetic quality. There is a sense of rhythm, an asymmetry suggestive of free flow verse, an evocative illusion of space and ambiguity of meaning. The contemplative process of returning, leaving, remembering and rebuilding is mirrored in her creative process of cancelling, adding and inventing anew.