Natalia Bobrowna (1875-1942) and Liliana Zeic (born 1988) could not have ever met since they are separated by several generations.
Combining the practice of contemporary visual artist Liliana Zeic with the works of Bobrowna might seem a simple procedure, due to the intarsia technique used by both artists. It could be, if not for the fact that both the name and achievements of Natalia Bober are completely unknown today, and in order to arrange this meeting, first of all, the figure of Bobrowna needs to be reconstructed. Although a hundred years ago she had ran a thriving First Artistic Inlay and Mosaic Workshop in Warsaw, the successes of which had often been reported in the press, one may speculate that due to the craft nature of the activity (considered “lower” than, for example, painting), she is not held in high regard by Polish art historians.
The first portrait of Natalia Bobrowna was created from the remains of information, press advertisements, lists of works in exhibition catalogues, parish books and tombstone inscriptions. The collected archival material inspired Liliana Zeic to create her own stories. The works which resulted are true to the handicraft traditions of Bobrowna and her collaborators. Vitaly, the common denominator of the artists’ practice is not only a decorative technique. At the workshop, the emphasis is primarily on the physicality, or even corporeality, of craft work. By creating an image of her predecessor at work, Zeic does not strive for depiction, but triggers the memory of her being. It also focuses on Bobrowna’s relationships with other women. Essential in the biography are, among others: inheriting a teacher’s studio or running courses for girls, but also simple gestures, such as using the maiden version of your surname.
While creating a portrait of Natalia Bobrowna, Liliana Zeic was unable to refer to representations or photographs. While working on the exhibition, we were unable to find any depictions of Bober. Zeic relied on her own experiences and her body’s memory. It was possible for her to imagine the person at the workshop, their behavior and hand movements. The image of a young, dark-haired woman in the studio therefore does bear some features of a Zeic self-portrait. What distinguishes this work from other representations of women currently created by Zeic is the wardrobe of heavy and restrictive clothing. The connection is found in the experience of being alone, during long hours of physically demanding work with all its corporeality. Zeic emphasizes with burl, lets spotted traces of tree disease seem like discolorations or wounds on human skin. Zeic presents Bobrowna surrounded by tools, but they are not only an attribute of workshop practice. Picturing both historical rasps, schnitzers, clippers and gouges and modern ones – a heat gun, glue gun or angle clamps, she depicts tools as more than ordinary objects. Zeic points out their potential in giving her the opportunity to act.
