(b. 1987, lives in Warsaw) is a cyclist, academic, sculptor, and environmental activist. Co-author of public art installations, interdisciplinary community projects, and activities aimed at sensitizing the public to the life of non-human species, Siekierska works primarily with wood, earth, clay, wax, stone, textile, and metal, but has also dabbled in other media, including drawing, photography, and film. She spends a lot of time in the wilderness, in all kinds of thickets and wetlands.
Greater Celandine, 2022, object and audio play, courtesy of the artist
Made with a countless number of pine needles, a hugely enlarged seed resembles the structures erected by ants. A pink fleshy substance protrudes from it. The sculpture is sensual and hard to classify as a representation of a particular being or situation. It leaves a space for feeling, speculating, and experiencing (it can be delicately touched). Placed on a small plaster column, shattered and rebuilt, on which the history of human victors is usually commemorated, the piece has been so elevated out of admiration for inconspicuous daily cooperation and mutual aid. The seeds of greater celandine, like those of many other plants, have fleshy appendages called elaiosomes which are rich in nutrients that attract ants. In return for the wealth of lipids, proteins, and sugars, the ants disperse the seeds, helping the plant propagate. Great-grandmothers, sisters, granddaughters will take care of each other. In a fragile home made of plaster, a relationship like this offers hope.
Venue
Muzeum Ziemi Lubuskiej, Al. Niepodległości 15