Lincoln Belmont Branch hosts a Polish American Heritage Month art exhibit in October featuring artist Iwona Biedermann
Artist Statement
This series of images depicts a self-contained, silent universe of forms carried literally on the back of the snail shells attached to the equally remote vibrantly textured gravestones. The photographs are closely link to time. Can time define a clear and undisputable border between the word and that which is wholly beyond any utterance? The photographs capture time on two different planes. The surfaces of gravestone are directly related to the snail dwellings.
The chemistry between them is apparent. Although their distinctive motion seems to sing silence in unison, they are not parallel but rather fused by time unfolding in a very different speed—organic and mineral—which takes place in the realms where time matters and is equally important, but represents distinctive gravity and sense of urgency.
The fine line between anonymity of the snail and stone, the very point where they merge is cool and withdrawn, yet it does simultaneously stimulate memories from the past and radiates with charisma and pure presence. The juxtaposition of inaccessible landscape of a gravestone and linear, ornamental quality of the snail shell creates a unique aesthetic moment, which seems to be justified by the single unifying purpose—a selfless impulse that takes them both toward an inextinguishable hunger for Beauty.
