Challenging Boundaries: Marzena Wolińska's Works Explores the Unity and Divisions Within Art.

Argued as a form of universal language, art can speak beyond social and geographical divisions. Open to interpretation and reflection, it offers the freedom to express aesthetic, social or political viewpoints. In its unique form of expression, art has the power to unify the most distant perceptions and beliefs. 

But what if the very unity of such an important factor, as art can be, is called into question? 

Permeation

“Permeation” (eng. przenikanie) by Marzena Wolińska was a solo exhibition that spotted a light on the divisions and fluidity within art. Her various designs and forms were presented at Galeria Nowa Scena UAP in Poznań (7.08–24.09.2023). Wolińska questioned the necessity of the split between pure and applied art, referring to the very origin of both, which is the permeation of emotions and thoughts. Although the main purpose of utility items is functionality, an inherent factor in our appreciation is their aesthetics. Her meditative drawings – a “spontaneous record of a given moment”, translated into a print on glass forms and tote bags,  make a strong entry point for a reflection on whether a division of art into pure and applied arts exists. 

Marzena Wolińska is a Polish designer and academic. She is experienced in working with diverse scales, from ceramics and glass objects to furniture, exhibitions and residential interiors. Wolińska has designed unique pieces in porcelain and glass and manufactured series for the ceramic and glass industries (Porcelana Chodzież, Huta Szkła Irena, Huty Szkła Krosno). Her work has been exhibited internationally in Saint-Étienne, Berlin, Milan and Vienna, among others. 

She graduated from the Faculty of Architecture and Design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznań and completed postgraduate studies in social psychology. After defending her PhD thesis in 2005, she became head of the II Studio of Product Design at the Magdalena Abakanowicz University of the Arts Poznań, a position she holds to this day.