Teresa Tyszkiewicz

Woman, matter, mother, nature. Showing the organic belonging of the human body to material reality. Initiating a discussion on the didactic role of art, which through provocation forces the viewer to reflect.

Teresa Tyszkiewicz's work undoubtedly played a leading role in the formation of the Polish neo-avant-garde movement and erotic art. Her works are a development of two problems to which art in the twentieth century again sought answers. The first was the feminine way of experiencing it, and the second was the depiction of the physical relationship between man and matter.

In order to visualise this relationship, very often in the compositions created by Tyszkiewicz it becomes problematic to distinguish the body from the surrounding matter of peas, pasta, feathers or sand, the modus operandi of which is a corporeal and ephemeral exploration of the material dimension of reality.

After a series of sensual and erotically tinged films made in collaboration with her husband Zdzisław Sosnowski, she began to create compositions in which the most important element was multiplied pins stuck into the canvas and sometimes connected by a thin wire or rope. Due to the artist's personal relationship with the created object, these works occupy a special place in her diverse oeuvre. As she herself has said, the very process of sticking the pins into the canvas was a very intimate experience for her, as it gave her the opportunity to work through the trauma resulting from the reality stifling the artist-woman.

The colour palette used by Tyszkiewicz consisted of only four colours: black, gold, red and white.