Ewelina Trejta

Replica of human skeleton made out of unfired clay. There is a water tank suspended above the skeleton. The reservoir is connected to the drip device. Water drops reach the surface of bone dry clay and cause the material to dissolve. It can be seen as an obvious echo of the Ashes to ashes, dust to dust quote.

Human skeleton and loose bones made out of black clay. Fired. Surrounded by clay vessels and jewellery (rings). During the exhibition, it will be on black soil, however, in the draft/work in progress version of the home display presented in the documentation, there is a bare floor. There is also a black and white projection (link to the projection included above). I have used footage from medical MRI scan imagery of the skeleton/skull (with visible tooth buds) of my baby. Watching this for the first time was an experience like from the iconic graveyard scene from Hamlet. Paradoxical one. I 'looked' into the skull of a living person yet still unborn. In the projection, I have also combined footage of my father's coronary angiography and night shot footage of foxes from a nearby garden. Foxes which I look after. The skeletons, especially their white teeth, are rather grotesque and could be bringing up a picture of the Medieval Dance Macabre motif. The piece mimics the site of archaeological excavation. Formal presentation consecrates skeletons as archaeological discoveries or artwork and opens a possibility for the viewer to read his/her own story from the fragments displayed. I would like to add more elements like video-mapping of letters/poetry on vases and skulls for the exhibition in July.

Agape is a love feast of the first Christians, being a meal partaken of in connection with the communion. Photography refers to prevalent in many culture's practices of eating a meal with the dead. In preChristian Slavic folklore, there was a celebration called Dziady (sometimes translated as Forefathers Eve). Its essence was a communion of the living with the dead. According to these beliefs, the souls of the ancestors are periodically returning to their homes. The soul had to be hosted (fed and watered) during a special feast prepared at home or cemeteries (directly on graves).

Series of vessels, intended to be captured as deeply symbolic artefacts. Vessels hold things, objects as well as can “hold” memory and tradition. This series of vessels could “come from” speculative/imaginary cultures/tribes. This series is about the relationships which we have as humans with objects in our life and the memory which they carry. Whose heritage they could be? Again I wish the viewer can invent their own story about them

I have done some photographic manipulation to create X-ray-like images.They are a little bit disturbing in reception (because of their obvious “fake character”) and absurdity. I have an idea that similar imagery could be presented on an old-school TV set, as a filtered live-feed from my skeleton installation.