Paulina Mazurek – I Owe So Much Good to You, Lord

“I’m 28 years old. As an adult, I struggle with the things I acquired as a child – a fearful, meticulous religiousness. I can’t find myself within the Polish Catholic Church, which seems to have lost the essence of the Bible. Nevertheless, I still believe. I’m searching for God, trying to discover Him differently than through drilled formulas and find support in Him in my own way. The project is a process of self-therapy, of re-experiencing a Catholic upbringing.”

Exhibition opening: 27/05/2023 (Saturday), 7:00 p.m.
Where: Galeria Labirynt, ul. ks. J. Popiełuszki 5, Lublin
Accessibility: The exhibition is held on the ground floor. In the bookshop you can borrow a wheelchair and earmuffs for free during your stay in the gallery. The silent hours at the exhibition apply on Wednesdays from 3 to 7 p.m. The gallery has 6 portable induction loops.
Exhibition on display: until 1/10/2023 (Tue–Sun: 12:00–7:00 p.m.)
Admission: PLN 5 (free admission to the exhibition opening)

Curatorial Team: Krystian Kamiński, Agata Sztorc-Gromaszek

The exhibition presents the author’s personal journey through a retrospective of her upbringing within the Catholic faith. The artist uses Christian iconographic motifs and mixes them with her private archival materials to give them a new character. The materials used to create the works and arrange the exhibition are full of symbolism, referring not only to the churches’ interiors but also to the production and selling of devotional articles. For example, amber, a lamb, or a blue mantle of Mary appear in a camp-like aesthetic. The juxtaposition of these elements gives them a new meaning, and the chosen imagery enables the subject to be viewed from a distance, capturing a wider context of the phenomena.

The starting point of the assemblages presented here is religious education notebooks, excerpts of which have been combined with the works as captions. The glittery catechetical titles, written by a child, proclaim some serious truths that children learn at school in the process of religious education. The artist refers to the content taught, the way it was conveyed, and the role of the Church institution as such, which is being separated from the understanding of faith. Religious education classes and participation in the Church’s life are experiences familiar to a large part of Polish society, raised in the Catholic faith. Therefore, the exhibition is not only personal, but also universal.

“I’m revising the words I was told as a child and what was ingrained in me. At the same time, I wonder what I can keep from the religion for myself. What is mine and what is learnt and imposed,” says the artist.

The works show an in-depth reflection on the core Christian values of love, peace, unity, and forgiveness; and their presence (or absence) in today’s Church. They also highlight how the mentioned values are passed on to children and how this education influences their development. Other important themes are those concerning the upbringing of girls as well as the identity of women in a Catholic community. It’s worth noting that the exhibition was created from the perspective of a woman, an adult, a Catholic, who is carefully and consciously reviewing her faith upbringing, reassessing it, and asking questions about her current position in the church community.

Paulina Mazurek, born in 1995 in Lublin. PhD student at the Doctoral School of the Pedagogical University in Kraków in the field of fine arts and art conservation. Graduate of photography at the University of Warsaw and contemporary art at Pedagogical University. Educator at the Galeria Labirynt. Photographer, photo editor, intermedia artist, and novice curator. She uses the broadly defined media of photography, video, analogue collage, and digital editing. She also works in the field of subjective documentaries and “new media”. Mazurek deals with social and relational issues and is interested in intergenerational topics as well as the sociology of everyday life. She often takes inspiration from kitsch aesthetics. The artist is a finalist of Grand Press Photo 2020, nominated for her reportage and portrait in the Young Poland category, and a participant of individual and group exhibitions both in Poland and abroad. Together with Michał Tokarz, she forms the [ZOBACZ JAK] Collective.

Translations: Arleta Bojaczuk, Volodymyr Dyshlevuk, Krystian Kamiński, Wioletta Stępniak
Coordinator: Monika Rejman
Visual identification: Emilia Lipa
Exhibition arrangement: Waldemar Tatarczuk
Realisation: Karol Jakóbczyk, Anna Śmierzchalska, Jarosław Mitura