Joanna Krajewska “Formation of species”

Ikebana is a traditional Japanese art of flower arrangement. In Europe and America, this simple statement is typically used to refer to the extremely complex artistic process which requires advanced botanical knowledge, aesthetic sensitivity and ability to recognise the hard-to-see beauty. For an ikebana artist, the very process of creating the composition is more interesting than its final effect: the appropriate selection of plants and flowers, their pruning and adaptation to the general design of the composition resembles the process of meditation. We usually admire the end result, which makes impression thanks to its arrangement and harmonious composition, without thinking about actions accompanying the formation of a particular set. Shortening, trimming, bending individual elements of plants are all aimed at creating a perfect composition, but also subordinating them to the will of the creator.

Joanna Krajewska creates ikebana on her own terms. The artist's assumptions are similar to the Japanese philosophy, the project is also about creating aesthetic compositions from different plant species, however, Krajewska takes a step further, changing from an artist to a creator. Not only does she create compositions, but by combining elements from different plants and flowers she, in fact, creates a new, non-existing species. Thanks to the media used (digital collage, 3D graphics), the new creations become real and "animated". The artist is experimenting, and, although the final effect of the whole process is extremely aesthetic, it is not free from a rather disturbing reflection on the presence of humans and their interference with the environment. Bioengineering has long since vanished from the sci-fi films, becoming, to a greater or lesser extent, a part of our everyday life: the treatments we subject our bodies to, food modifications to better meet the imposed standards have already become the norm, as well as the overexploitation that destroys specific ecosystems. In a subtle way, Krajewska raises uncomfortable issues, wondering at the same time how far humans can go to satisfy their curiosity and the need for development. Plants created by the artist do not play any specific role, appearing to aesthetic stimuli, yet the way they are created features a dark element of controversy.

Joanna Krajewska – graduate of the Faculty of Graphics - Academy of Art and Design (AAD) in Wrocław in 2015-2019, Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw in 2017-2018, studied also "Art Mediation" at AAD in Wroclaw. In 2018/2019 she was won an art scholarship awarded by the mayor of Wrocław. Two-time laureate of the AAD rector's scholarship. A finalist of the 18th edition of the Hestia Artistic Journey competition. Mostly fond of 3D graphics and drawing, she seeks points of contact between human activities and nature, analysing them, reproducing organicity in an inorganic medium and vice versa, looking for parallel phenomena in both worlds.