It seems that Alicja Bielawska’s thinking is determined by a line. Both by the visible one as well as the one, which cannot be seen, which is nevertheless a mark, a trace leading from the drawing to the sculpture and the other way around. When asked what is most important for her – drawing or sculptures – the artist says that one cannot make such a distinction. Both forms of expression exist simultaneously, mutually interweaving with and complementing each other. The difference is encompassed in the scale of its activity. Drawing for Bielawska is a very intimate action, which requires concentration as well as a specifc type of work with one’s body. The gesture of using the colored pencil comes from within and the hand constitutes a direct extension of the thought, the literal transposition of the ideas to a sheet of paper. The sculpture, however, exerts an influence with its material and size. The artist reaches beyond the sheet of paper and traces lines in space – literally and metaphorically. Her works are based on divisions rather than building structures, seizing space, partitioning and connecting it back together.
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The lines do not appear exclusively on paper and in space, but they also appear on pieces of fabric that the artist uses. She uses textiles: plain, made out of cotton and wool, as well as blankets covered with a custom designed chequered pattern. This most popular motif in mass-production, which all of us have encountered, becomes a cartographic network of connections. The fabric created according to the artist’s design is one of a kind – with a potential to become a serial product. It appears as an element of sculptures, which balance between an artistic object and an item of everyday use.