Beneath the Waves, polymer gypsum

Gosia is a sculptor who was born in Poland and now lives and works in Toronto, Ontario. The artist’s works often take the form of highly stylized standing figures, created with simple, pale human forms embellished with moments of color and added materials to elevate them to a new conceptual level.

Into the Ocean, polymer gypsum

I really love how much Gosia is able to convey using fairly clean and minimalist visual techniques. One set of sculptures is colored a uniform white that fades into a deepening ocean blue as the viewer’s eye is drawn to the figures’ feet. Such a color technique implies an ominous sense of sinking – or, perhaps read backward, a triumphant rising above. In another sculpture, the surface of a figure’s face is coated in dripping latex, creating the impression that the figure is melting.

The impact of the sculptures lies partially in the nature of the figures. Mostly female, they are not supernaturally beautiful or perfectly proportioned. Viewers are able to see themselves in the soft, vaguely childlike features of these sculptural forms. 

Decay (detail), ceramic and paint