Photos courtesy Wes Magyar
My most recent body of work for a solo show, "Haptic Terrain," probes the porous boundary between our bodies and environments, examining how we mutate, evolve, and adapt to endure a hostile world. A collection of sculptures and installations feature skin-like grocery bags, excavated concrete, deformed insulation foam, and transplanted human hair. Biological processes blend with industrial materials, adulterating architectural dissections of space such as section and plan drawings, topographical maps, and conceptual models with carnal bits and tufts of hair. The pieces merge body and landscape, psychology and design, asking how much a body can endure before losing its intrinsic structure and how our vulnerable flesh can prevail through the brutality of a paved-over paradise. The exhibit invites viewers into the intimacy of disgust, the familiarity of struggle, and the escapism of imaginary worlds.
“It is eerie, mysterious, and unknowable. Yet it gives off a sense of perseverance, some being or animal or emotional entity continuing to exist, no matter what.” - Ray Rinaldi Denver Post Review
“Grabowska’s art objects are of at least two minds. In doing so, they open a space for dialogue, discussion, and a multiplicity of future imaginaries.” - Joshua Ware Southwest Contemporary review