"The cycle The Evil Queen’s Herbarium was made, the artist writes, as a result of combining various loose motifs which, getting closer... Read More
"The cycle The Evil Queen’s Herbarium was made, the artist writes, as a result of combining various loose motifs which, getting closer together, made up the final effect. The painting series comprises twenty oil paintings which show exotic plants. The first group are flowers, which, due to their appearance, have been given Polish names unrelated to the plants’ decorative function: gladiolus is a little sword, clianthus – lobster claws, masdevallia – an imp, and the name dracula sodiroi speaks for itself.
Another group is also connected with the names, but these emphasize the aesthetic value of the flowers. Therefore the prekelia is called beautiful and gloriosa means wonderful.
Another part of the cycle are the plants to which certain symbolism is attributed: passiflora means a sufferer and iris is a flower of oblivion. Finally, there is a group of herbs with poisonous or medicinal properties. If we collect all the above mentioned terms, we can successfully use them to describe women, their looks or characters. In her herbarium Ewa Kulka refers to fairy-tales, legends and folk stories and extraordinary skills attributed to their heroines, ranging from good to evil, from strength to submissiveness, from aggression to meekness. (...)"
- Renata Kopyto
