“Images which I have deep inside of me” Karol Palczak

Paintings by Karol Palczak exude melancholy, uneasiness and dread. Karol is an artist who emphasizes the beauty of extreme situations and events, and plays with fire so eagerly that he almost gets stranded when he finds himself in thick smoke. Most of the scenes he paints are shrouded in smoke indeed. The images he creates make the audience reflect on passing the time and the transience of the moments that get enveloped in a thick mist in our imperfect memory as we go on living.

Karol was born in Przemyśl in the year 1987. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. He lives and works in the village of Krzywcza located in Subcarpathian Voivodeship in Poland, where he spent his early childhood.

I recently had an opportunity to meet Karol in person and talk to him in Krakow as I visited the latest exhibition of his works entitled “Pothers”. Margarita Vladimirova, the curator of this exhibition, explains that:

Pothers [Zadymy] is a slang notion which encompasses unusual events, situations, rows or commotion. When Krzywcza on the San river becomes the scene of these events, it means that they sail high in the air enveloped in smoke after being painted by Karol Palczak.

Julita Deluga: The exhibition of your works which we can visit in the gallery of the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow and which is a part of the Open Eyes Art Festival, is entitled “Pothers”. Why was this title chosen for the exhibition?

Karol The times we live in are very turbulent. We are bombarded with too much information and have to select the pieces which are relevant. People are sort of enveloped in thick smoke. In my works I wanted to show anxiety and uncertainty, but not in the literal sense.

My exhibition is related to the group exhibition of works by students of the Academy entitled “Walk with me”. We smoothly pass from one space into another one. What does this passage mean? It shows that, in fact, we are together and follow the same path. I also used to be a student. Support of other artists means a lot to me personally. Unfortunately, it is very difficult when you are left on your own as a painter.

What is the message behind your exhibition? Is there any central motto that connects all your works presented here?

I am not sure I intended to say something. Maybe I just wanted to show something instead. I feel that what I do is just showing my emotions as they are. When I paint, I tell what I feel and what emotions overcome me. I never try to think anything up, but I rather act as I feel at a given moment in time. The rest happens spontaneously.

Do you have your favourite topics and motives to paint?

I do, but I usually act on an impulse. I often paint burning car wrecks, trees, ice floes, smoking bonfires and winter scenes. The effects can later on be seen at exhibitions. This really is me. This is the truth about me and about what I feel. These are my emotions. My paintings tell a lot about me as a person who comes from a certain place. Most of all, they are the expression of my emotions which are so universal that other people perceive them as their own.

Is there any particular work, series or cycle among the ones presented in the Academy that means something special to you or is of special significance?

All of them are special for me. However, I feel some unique connection with the “Snowman” series. Images of snowmen are, in fact, self-portraits. If we take a closer look at them, we can see me… These portraits are very true and deeply personal.

I like these snowmen very much, I like burning trees and maize. I do have a deeper emotional connection to certain works.

Why do you paint flames and burning trees so often? Is fire a special motive for you for some reason?

These are images which I have deep inside of me… We could say that I have a connection with fire. When I and my brother were children, we used to play together and once we decided to make bombs. Unfortunately, something went really wrong on this occasion and my leg started to burn. The situation was very serious. I suffered extensive burns. Skin graft was necessary so I could recover. This event from my past has left its mark on me. It is very difficult to find proper words to express how I feel about it.

I would like to talk with you a little more about how you choose the topics of your works. Do I understand correctly that when you are delighted with something, for example a car wreck, you simply conclude that this could be a motive for your work? Or maybe you have a certain idea of what emotions you wish to communicate and you select a topic on this basis? Which one is true for you?

This is a very interesting question. I actually follow both of these paths. Sometimes the topics come from inside of me. On certain occasions I select them following my observation of the surroundings. Paintings are what I create as a result of these two kinds of stimuli.

I have an impression that the better ones or the ones I feel more attached to “come from inside of me”. Such process is always more straightforward and kind of better. This is how the snowmen were created. I like the paintings I create in such manner. This is exactly why I think about my snowmen or a burning tree with such relish.

When I look at your paintings, I can see how enormous effort you put into their technical aspect. It is visible that you are fascinated with classical painting techniques which were typical for the masters of the past. Why do you choose these particular means of expression? Why exactly this technique?

I perceive this technique as something that carries beauty. For me it is important to use as many tools as possible that can help me present the beauty of a given situation, colour, location. The tools I have at my disposal are supposed to accentuate a given topic, but also its allure.

Aesthetics and beauty are the things currently disregarded by painters of our times, but they are nevertheless very important for me. I want to see them in what is painted. They result from gestures, combinations of colours and saturation of pigments used. If you want to achieve what I am talking about, you have to pay meticulous attention to technique and development of your painter’s toolbox. This will help you advance to the next level as an artist. I want to achieve just that and this is why I spend a lot of time on technique and constantly work to improve it.

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Do you prepare the paints yourself?

I do prepare certain colours. I use paints that are of very good quality, they are made of natural pigments. Some colours are great and so qualitative that I do not have to make them on my own. The other ones I prepare myself, because then I can control consistency and transparency. Certain pigments are much easier to process, so it is worth to prepare them independently. I make a lot of colours but everything depends on what I need at a given moment.

What are your inspirations? What gives you an incentive to paint?

The place I found myself in. The beauty of it and my love towards it. I live and work in Krzywcza on the San river, not far away from the city of Przemyśl. This is where I belong. I have my studio there, I live my everyday life there as well. I paint in this village and feel at ease there. This is also where I find my inspiration. I did not feel this way when I lived in Krakow. I was simply not satisfied with anything I painted at that time. I thought about it just recently. I wondered why this particular place where I live now is so important for me. My conclusion was that this is because my roots are there. Now I think differently – it is not about my roots, but rather about my love towards this place. If you feel attached to a place, inspiration comes to you. Without these feelings I am not willing to paint. I think that love is the strongest motivation do make art. I mean love towards the very act of creation and towards a place which I feel connected with and where I grew up. I strive to convey all these emotions. This is a bit complicated…

The title of one of your works, namely “Stanął w ogniu nasz wielki dom…” [Our huge house went up in flames], is the initial line of the lyrics of a song by Jacek Kaczmarski, that used to be sung by Przemysław Gintrowski. I also read somewhere that you like Kazik Staszewski and you often listen to his songs. How important music is for you as an artist?

I choose music to listen to based on my emotional connection with it and I also look for music that inspires me. I understand the atmosphere and emotions described in the songs by Jacek Kaczmarski and Kazik very well. They correspond with my frame of mind. The atmosphere they sing about is also similar to what can be felt in my village. The emotions they communicate can be felt when looking at my works as well. I am inspired by these artists and their lyrics. I listen to them, observe and reflect on the means they utilize to bring the emotions of their listeners to the surface and what exact words they use to achieve just that. This is extremely inspiring.

Do you listen to music when you paint?

I do. The tunes I listen to are really diverse. I choose various kinds of music, depending on my mood. Sometimes it is heavy metal, sometimes Kazik. On other occasions I listen to sung poetry. I also listen to podcasts on the topics that are of interest to me. My playlist is extremely long. Everything depends on what I am painting at a given moment.

I am a representative of a very special generation when it comes to music tastes. Young people in Krzywcza used to listen to music a lot in the past. We had punk subcultures and skinheads. There was no hip hop. Everyone from my village travelled to Woodstock or Jarocin to take part in the famous music festivals. In the engineering technical college I attended as a teen we had a lot of punks. It felt so different than it is now. People identified themselves with these groups. Kazik, his music and lyrics perfectly harmonized with the atmosphere of these times.

What are you currently working on? What are your plans for the coming months?

I am planning my next exhibition to be organized quite soon. Possibly it will be in Warsaw, but that still remains to be confirmed.

And what am I painting now? I have a few ideas. I am working on a series featuring effigies or Marzannas [straw figures drowned in rivers or lakes when spring comes]. I am also going to paint several winter landscapes with mud, dirt and unrest. They will be personal and truly my own. We will see what the future brings. I am not able to say anything more specific because I do not know what the final result of all these planned activities will be.

Interviewed by Julita Deluga

Karol Palczak ,”Pothers” exhibition, Virtual Tour, © Galeria ASP in Cracow, production: Marcin Baran

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