Photography has forever changed the way our memory functions. Many times I witnessed a situation where a photograph triggered a cascade of memories: “That’s Aunt Krysia, and next to her – her son. He’s like 15 years old, so it must be around 1964…” I’ve heard plenty of such and similar statements. But what happens when this launched cascade encounters a breach, a void, and the process of knocking over domino blocks is violently interrupted?

Marta Wojnarowska-Olszewska takes a look at this question. She doesn’t do it by choice, she has been confronted with the fact of her mother’s illness. She accompanies her, takes care of her, and at the same time – this is my impression – tries to understand, tame and cope with the illness of a loved one. All this through a medium – which she knows and understands well – photography.

For this she uses not only the camera, with which she catches the subtle “shifts,” the small signs of the slow fading of memory, and thus also the changes in a person she has known all her life. She also uses archival photos, which are slowly losing their documentary context and instead of answering questions about the past, she puts it into question.

The artist also includes her protagonist in her work on the material, transforming her from a photographed person into a co-author of the project. Together they try to preserve what is still in memory. Mom describes the situation in the photos, recognizes people, adds dates. Increasingly, however – unfortunately – she ends statements with a question mark rather than a period.

The work “Forget-me-nots bloom in January” goes far beyond the word “project.” It is both an artistic work and a form of therapy. Marta Wojnarowska-Olszewska does not describe the disease, nor does she try to give the viewer any answers. She looks at the process of erosion of the whole family, changing ties, but also at herself. Most importantly, she also asks questions about how the illness of a loved one changes not only the memory, but through it also the person as such. For isn’t what we have experienced a part of us?

Curator: dr Rafał Siderski

about the author:
Marta Wojnarowska-Olszewska – landscape and interior architect, photographer. She engages in working on long-term projects. She uses various techniques and means of expression, adapting them to her chosen methods of storytelling.