Birds V 

Curator: Welcome. We’re standing before “Birds V” by Małgorzata Serwatka, an acrylic on canvas painting portraying three birds in a snowy, dreamlike setting. Editor: My first thought? The monochromatic palette and slightly awkward composition lend it a strange, unsettling beauty. It's almost naive, yet there’s something compelling about its stillness. Curator: Interesting you say that. I am immediately drawn to how the layering of the acrylic affects the texture. You can really feel the artist's hand and how the process shapes our perception, don't you think? Editor: Absolutely. The layering contributes to its materiality, the sheer physicality of the paint, but look at the stylized snowflakes. The high contrast between black, white, and the pale blues of the snow really command the eye. Notice too, the subtle variations in tone that bring the birds to life, the iridescent feathers on the magpies above. Curator: It also highlights the production that makes that layering. The act of applying, letting it dry, applying more…It evokes a ritualistic process. In thinking about social context, I wonder where Serwatka finds her resources? What community does she seek to represent here through such figuration? Editor: Those are all crucial aspects, especially within Serwatka's oeuvre. But the symbolism of birds is something not to be missed. Aren't magpies generally associated with both good and bad fortune? The single jackdaw in the foreground maybe stands as a harbinger of ill tidings to come, contrasting with the magpies looking forward. The whole scene strikes a slightly ominous chord, actually, considering the presence of snowflakes in a potentially shifting climate… Curator: Ah, perhaps the raw materials of a changed world find its place in the art then. Editor: Indeed. The layering itself, viewed materially, echoes that same shifting sentiment with a striking atmospheric pressure on the canvas. Curator: Looking closely at its texture through the lens of the present, I think this offers an unexpected, affecting, commentary on a lot of different things. Thanks for highlighting that interplay. Editor: My pleasure. There’s always something more to find if you allow the details to pull you into conversation.