Patrycja Orzechowska

The project was partly inspired by old albums with nature photography (e.g. : Lech Wilczek: Oko w oko [Eye to eye], Nasza Księgarnia, Warsaw 1959; Jajko jajku nierówne [Egg to egg uneven], Nasza Księgarnia, Warsaw 1961), as well as illustrated medical atlases from the same period. Printed in rotogravure technique, they were characterized by deep matt blacks and specific colours giving an artificial effect of overlapping colour on black-and-white photography. My series of photographs resembles classical nature photography, but it is only seemingly it. Images once take on paramilitary camouflage shapes, drawn patches emerging from the protective layer of bark seem to create a moro pattern. At other times, the subcutaneous tissue of the tree reveals secret tunnels, drawbridges, hidden passages, magnificent cathedrals and utopian impossible cities. The Kingdom, subjected to an endless sculptural process every day, resembles a mysterious Organism, which is driven by a disease. Anthropomorphic images from the inside, as if exposed to X-ray light, reveal the creative and at the same time divergent actions of insect tribes and individuals. Sculptural talents of woodworms, ants, woodpeckers and other species contribute to the co-created process of constant change in the living and dead tissue of the forest. The naked life, despite everything and for the time being, is going on at its internal pace. C’est la vie!