Patronesses, Małgorzata

Dorota Nieznalska's series of sculptures Patronesses are objects in the form of a tiara, a thorny band, which here are the equivalent of the male crown of thorns, dedicated to women and to last year's events (the Black March), which, in the author's view, in an inadmissible way restrict their rights to self-determination and interfere with human rights. It is decidedly a symbolic message in the Polish context. The motif of the crown, wreath or thorny band has been explored by the artist since 2005, when she created a poster design for the competition My Life, My Decision, organised by the Federation for Women and Family Planning - the poster shows a female torso wrapped at the waist in barbed wire. Subsequent realisations using one of the elements of the „arma Christi” are the Mystical Wreath, King and Queen of Poland, made in 2008, where in the case of the sculpture/installation Queen of Poland the thorns were made of polished amber. In 2009 the artist made the object Red K., repeating the motif known from the aforementioned installation, this time using polished, natural coral. In 2010 Dorota Nieznalska made sculptures from the cycle Wreaths, which, under a title suggesting the youth, vitality, innocence or hope of young women, took the form of thorny bands fitting a human head. (source: nieznalska.com)