Inspiration for Paweł Matyszewski’s exhibition Sand between the Teeth comes from cabinets of curiosities and Kunstkammern – assortments of various and sundry man-made and natural objects. The idea behind them was to transform a single room into a condensed and miniature version of the world to demonstrate the sheer diversity within it. While housing the sum total of human knowledge about the world, those cabinets also mirrored human approach to it – they created hierarchies and developed systematics.

Yet it is another aspect of Kunstkammern that Matyszewski chooses to focus on – their being an instrument for gaining knowledge in an unbiased and processual way rather than presentations of undisputed knowledge. Consequently, the artist fills in the gallery space with paintings and objects, while letting a wooden table take centre stage. This is a reference to Ole Worm, a forerunner of geology and creator of one of the most interesting Kunstkammern, who used a table for making temporary sets of objects from different categories.

Recreating that “mobile” structure highlights the processual nature of the display. Matyszewski intends to successively add more ceramic objects to the exhibition. In this way, he will be able to each time reformulate the senses of previous arrangements and meanings. The artist invites the audience to join him in doing this, making it possible to its members to experience the show not only as spectators but also as participants discovering the keys to understanding matter, the role the senses play in cognition, and the need to start exploring the world around us anew.

Paweł Matyszewski draws upon his encounters with nature and his experience as a gardener. He creates curious natural-corporeal maps that comprise botanical motifs, artificial stones and non-representational colourful planes. His engagement with soil has taught him how to respond to changing nature and foresee its fluctuations. Wrestling with the challenges posed by the climate crisis also in his own garden, he increases species diversity, examines the relationships between plants, and embraces experiments. All this he transfers to art as he encourages his viewers to open to what is around them and keep adapting to changes.

Throughout the duration of the exhibition Matyszewski, our artist-in-residence, gradually explores the surroundings and local context. He can thus transform the exhibition space into a place where workshops and meetings with the public take place. The project is accompanied by recordings documenting the artist’s observations of nature in his home province of Podlasie, here juxtaposed with seaside landscapes.

The artist is present!

/ Agnieszka Kilian, Weronika Teplicka /