Grandmother Józefa's shoes 2012

Małgorzata Serwatka made this painting, Grandmother Józefa’s Shoes, and well, it's a mystery when! But look at the way she puts it together, kind of collaged, pieced, and layered. You get a sense of how she was thinking, right? I’m drawn to the shoes, the way they sit there, solid and worn, almost like portraits themselves. They’re placed at the bottom, almost obscuring the red and green striped ground, but that's important too because it creates a kind of stage for this intimate scene. Then there’s this ghostly figure of Jesus duplicated in the background, watching over everything. Serwatka uses this rough-hewn mark-making that feels direct and unfiltered. The colors are muted, but there's still this raw energy. I feel a connection with outsider art and maybe even artists like Paula Modersohn-Becker, who also looked at ordinary people with such empathy. Ultimately, it’s a reminder that art doesn't have to be perfect. It’s more interesting when it’s a little broken.