Grandmother Józefa's shoes 2012

Małgorzata Serwatka made this painting, Grandmother Józefa's shoes, using oil on canvas. The artist has built up the image through layers. Look closely and you can see how she's laid down patches of colour and form, allowing the composition to emerge slowly. I wonder if she knew exactly how this painting would look when she started? Perhaps not. It feels like she's discovered the image through the act of painting, feeling her way. You can see how the painting celebrates her grandmother. The shoes look solid, robust. Did she wear these everyday? The whole picture feels both personal and like a universal memory. A shared memory. There's a stillness here, a quietness. I get a sense of the passing of time, too. Like looking back. Like a memory, in fact, as it shifts and changes the more we try to grasp it. Doesn't it make you think about the work of other Polish artists, like Wilhelm Sasnal? They're all in conversation, you know.