the edge of meaning

LangLab Gallery proudly presents, Katarzyna Nowak.

www.photonowakk.com

The presented images are a carefully selected set of black and white photographs. The creative process is thoughtful, but based on the moment. The artist looks for ordinary subjects that lose their most obvious meaning and take on a new form in her eyes. The abstract dimension in her artwork is the common denominator of the collection.

In this series, the artist gives the recipients an opportunity to see reality through her eyes, but she does not impose any specific interpretation. One looks in vain for symbolic representations. The photographer gives room for a subjective perception, provoking individual visions of the compositions. In this way, we can discover forms or geometrical figures that are initially hidden but written in the content of the frames. The optical illusions and blurring of the meanings are surely the attributes of Katarzyna Nowak’s photography.

The photographer does not manipulate the depth of field, but puts emphasis on the detail and sharp depiction of reality. The abstract is formed through the interplay of light and shadow and unconventional viewing angles. The motifs are still recognizable but emphasizing their patterns, forms, shapes and textures causes the subjects to lose their immediate initial meaning. The mountain landscape becomes a play of shapes or splashing waves on the sea; tree branches become claws.

The exhibition at the LangLab gallery in South Band, Indiana (www.langlabsb.com) is a continuation of the series of expositions “The Edge of Meaning” that take place in parallel in Ziegel Oh Lac, Zurich, Switzerland (www.ziegelohlac.ch/text.php?nav=aus) and in Cafe Verte, in the hometown of the artist (Lodz, Poland). In the past, the exhibitions were hosted by Foto Cafe 102 and Ciagoty I Tesknoty restaurant (Lodz, Poland) as well as in bQm Kultur Cafe & Bar in Zurich in 2012.

Katarzyna Nowak was born in Lodz, Poland on 11th of july, 1984. At present, she lives in Zurich. She obtained her PhD in Biology at the institute of Molecular Systems biology at ETH, Zurich and continues to work there as a postdoctoral researcher. She studies cancer-related processes using Drosophila melanogaster (commonly known as the fruit fly) as a model organism. One could say that science and photography have nothing in common. However, they both share a great attention to the detail. Katarzyna developed her passion for photography and for precise reproduction of reality as a scientist, having to do with many types of microscopy on a daily basis. She attains the solutions that she applies in her photography through autodidactic learning experience.

Please join us for the opening reception at 6:30pm.

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