Dariusz Mlącki is an artist who expresses himself in the language of geometry, but he also does not shy away from illusionistic tendencies, thanks to which his art covers not only the area of painted canvas, cork or plexiglass, but is also expanded by the surrounding space.It often happens that the creator’s works have a contemplative character, which is also a state experienced by the recipient and may refer to the artist’s mindfulness during creative work. The reflectiveness of the painter’s paintings or installations may be associated with the Tibetan practices of, for example, Buddhism, the aim of which is, among others, knowing the state of your nature. In the case of Dariusz Mlącki’s artistic activities, it can also be about exploring the nature of things - envelopes, cards, candles or boards.The artist has repeatedly taken part in open-air painting sessions, gathering artists of geometric art, organized by dr Bożena Kowalska. But what really is the so-called “The language of geometry” in which, in the case of Dariusz Mlącki, one can also find some kind of figurativeness - a church, a rose, an inverted messenger or a sky full of clouds? “Language”, as a form of expression, both ver-bally and “in writing”, helps in describing reality - objects. It is expressed in a sign - a letter, a geometric figure or a schematic image of a building. Geometry, as one of the ancient sciences, made it possible to measure material things, expressed by points, tangents, fields and angles. So, in the works of Dariusz Mlącki, were the seemingly contradictory paradigms not presented in an exceptionally coherent way, if, for example, we consider an illusionistically painted rose as a sign, and the envelope as a set of measures and angles?The reality of Dariusz Mlącki’s envelopes, boards and cards, which delights the human eye, brings to mind monumental illusionist painting, in which the architectural space, the depth of the vault, and the structure of the dome were deceptively recreated. Even the most keen observer could not distinguish between what was the real structure and what was painted on the two-dimensional ceiling. Another type of illusion is easel painting known as trompe l’oeil (Dutch: bedrijghertje) and aimed at veristically recreating real objects. Dariusz Mlącki uses the illusion not only in realistic signs filling his canvases, but also creates, among others, installation, dependent on the space surrounding his “objects”, which extends beyond the area designated by the creator, corresponding to the reality around it.The art of Dariusz Mlącki requires concentration. The contemplative nature of the paintings (as in the case of “Candles” or se-lected “Envelopes”) seems to result, for example, from their limited range of colors or the obvious symbolism of a still smoldering stub. The reflectiveness that can be attributed to the artist’s work may also result from the painter’s experience of traveling to Tibet. The percep-tible spirituality and exploration of the topics bothering the artist, described in a geometric form, also lead to the reflections of Wassily Kandinsky, who in the philosophical system included in the collection “On Spirituality in Art” also attributes metaphysical aspects to it. Importantly, Kandinsky also included in his writings the theory of assigning emotional values to specific figures.The work of Dariusz Mlącki encourages interpretation, and the artist himself inspires the search, because, as he says: “What is most important is always well hidden, and what is less important distorts the image of reality
