Dorota Łapa-Maik “New Day” - solo exhibition

18 May-15 July 2023, Apteka Sztuki, Warsaw

In Search of Lightness and Depth

Małgorzata Marszall writes about the painting of Dorota Łapa-Maik

The exhibition titled ‘New Day’ in the Apteka Sztuki Gallery marks a new beginning for Dorota Łapa-Maik — the return to the large-scale format after three years of painting mainly on smaller canvases. As the artist herself states, every day is a new beginning.

Following her inner curiosity and sensibility, Dorota Łapa-Maik starts against all odds. She paints in pursuit of freedom, yearning for the insouciance and depth of experience. She constructs her own space and way of interacting with the world. Her paintings defy the overabundance of stimuli, noise and commotion of our accelerating civilization. The artist emphasizes the fact that she had to overcome immense internal as well as external resistance before she made her decision to pick up a brush. To get to where she is now, she displayed a great dedication to her work, and often often compares her art practice with another life role — being a mother.

World of emotions

The paintings of Dorota Łapa-Maik could be interpreted as an invitation to her own world — the world of feelings, passions and emotions that she experiences every day. At the same time, the pieces have a universal character, encouraging us to discover the longing, deepest desires and mysteries flickering within the human soul. The painter is fascinated by the flow of energy, experiences and dreams — and that is what makes her painting, as well as her approach to the act of creation, so utterly unique.

At times, she creates multiple paintings simultaneously. Her brush traverses the edges of adjacent canvases, colours and worlds merging to form a larger whole while remaining separate. Brush marks often intersect pencil and pastel lines. Impulsive gestures performed by the artist imbue her practice with spirited, bold and spontaneous qualities. Her paintings overflowing with colours and shapes evokes energy, vitality and freedom, thus encouraging a personal reflection.

The artist seeks inspiration from her own experience, nature and practice of other artists. The works of women are particularly close to her. She is enraptured with the art of Georgia O’Keeffe, David Hockney as well as the abstract painters, such as Cy Twombly, Lee Krasner, Joan Mitchell and Helen Frankenthaler. In the world where everyone strives for originality, she has no qualms about admitting that she is inspired by the past. After all, every movement of her brush, after all, is filtered through her own experiences. That is why each of her paintings is one of a kind.

Painting in motion

Dorota Łapa-Maik adores movement and improvisation. Her works are often imbued with spontaneity and vivaciousness. Frequently, her paintings arise from an internal impulse, such as evoked emotion or shapes suddenly manifesting themselves beneath closed eyelids. The artist tends to steer clear of preconceived ideas for paintings before she starts her work. As she creates, she allows herself to improvise, trusting her own intuition. Part of the process is the meditation in motion — a spontaneous dance or walking around the plants — that relieves her of the tension and barrage of thoughts. Movement stimulates new ideas and better decisions.

Painting is also a form of movement. The artist ensconces herself in her studio, tunes out all distractions and follows everything that has been going through her mind and body. She finds a creative process as significant as the final result. Her paintings emerge through mindfulness which combines meditative and reflective states with carefree improvisation.

Paintings displayed on this exhibition, full of shapes and colors seem to be moving, floating in the rhythm of music. Unfettered expression opens up the space for conveying emotions. Distinctive, pervading and overlapping brushstrokes in addition to the flair of painterly gesture evoke associations with the affirmation of life, motion and a powerful need to experience reality. The artist has an excellent eye for colour. For this reason, her paintings evoke a wealth of emotions in the viewer. Some of the pieces are poetic and sublime, others more expressive and colour-intensive.