Memory

This is a collection of dozens of negative casts of faces. They are made of plaster, directly on people’s heads. The subjects were laid on the floor, on a layer of salt. It also partially fills the interiors of the forms, bringing out fragments of facial features.
Anka Lesniak wrote in the exhibition catalog as follows: Salt was not chosen at random – it has cleansing properties, in ancient beliefs it warded off spirits and evil powers. But it also has a negative symbolism, associated with destruction, annihilation – in ancient times, when one wanted to completely destroy a city, salt was poured on its ruins. Thus, in Maciej Jablonski’s work, salt brings out the negative and positive, the dark and light side of the face, and above all the variety of images created for a moment in the plaster negatives. This installation can also refer to the changeability of fate, the fact that nothing happens twice. The artist will not succeed in repeating in an identical way the effect he achieved in this exhibition.

Sprinkling salt on wounds is torture. It causes terrible pain. At the same time, however, salt cleanses and preserves. For me, the salt in this installation connects to memory. It brings out blurry, vague shapes. The image lasts only until someone moves the plaster mold. Memory preserves images, it is often the only thing that remains after events. But it can also be a curse, causing pain when images of tragedies return in the mind. Often one would like to forget and live a normal, joyful life, but the salt of memory does not allow – it preserves traumatic experiences, bringing them back in unexpected ways, in unforeseen situations.