Angelika J. Trojnarski – In search of a deeper understanding of the world

A childhood in the natural world of Masuria
 

Trojnarski’s passion for nature and her keen interest in natural phenomena is rooted in her childhood in Masuria, the largest lakeland region in Poland, where she grew up between 1979 and 1989 in a landscape that was still intact. Early images, smells and moods that have been ingrained in her memory reappear every so often in her work, alongside new ideas and impressions gained from research trips to other places. All around the large number of lakes and waterways in Masuria, there are huge tracts of forest, the remnants of ancient jungles, which are home to unique flora and fauna. Even today, this still makes the region a real paradise for people seeking a life surrounded by and in harmony with the natural environment. During her childhood, these forests, lakes and moors were places of endless discovery for the artist.

Trojnarski formed her own impressions of the natural world by taking every opportunity to get out into nature, ideally to places where no paths had been trod, observing anthills which at that time were so high that they almost towered over her, or swimming in dark lakes, always wary of leeches and eddies in the water. Here, she spent hours collecting fossils of petrified cephalopods, for example, “belemnites” which had survived from another age and which partially protruded from out of the soil. These cephalopod skeletons, also known as “thunderbolts”, which are about the size of a finger, have been left behind from the time when the melted water from glaciers created the lakeland region with its more than 3,000 lakes and waterways which now covers Masuria. Originally, the area was directly connected to the sea, since the cephalopods’ only natural habitat was along the edges of marine coasts. Without any knowledge of this background information, the relics from bygone eras were a source of indeterminate fascination for Trojnarski, mingling with incidental observations and memories of afternoons spent by a lake, with dry grasslands which in her child’s eyes stretched for ever, and with the various smells of nature that unfolded in the summer heat or after a storm. Every so often these memories would return in her memory, so that years later, they would play an important part in her artistic output, in which nature plays a central role. 

Artistic exploration of natural phenomena
 

Angelika J. Trojnarski’s work is grounded in a detailed contemplation of nature and the observation of physical processes. Her subjects include stormy winds, polar lights, lightning and thunderstorms, examining the extent to which nature unleashes its forces. In most cases, these forces themselves are invisible; only traces of them and their impact can be seen. Angelika J. Trojnarski transforms these immaterial processes into a visual form. From clouds driven by the wind, flowing water and lightning cutting through the air to the light from the rays of the sun – all these images show naturally flowing energies. 

Here, light phenomena arising from electromagnetic processes is an endless source of fascination for the artist. She engages in depth with the subject, learning about electricity in the atmosphere and studying the work of the Croatian scientist Nikola Tesla in detail. In her works, energy, tension and the emotionality of light then appear in a charged relationship (Fiat Lux, 2018/19) and she succeeds in bringing forth a truly phenomenal force: polar lights are combined with lightning strokes and fire; together, they form a vortex of blindingly white and violet light rays, which hit the ground with an almost palpable impact. By contrast, in Petrichor (2019), a powerful summer thunderstorm, charged up with crosshatching, is shown, a break in the clouds flooded with light which conjoins the sun with violet lightning discharges. The title refers to the smell of summer rain when the drops hit the hot, very dry ground, thus evoking a mood remembered by the artist from her childhood, and which is familiar to us all. However, we are increasingly being confronted with natural events which we have never experienced until now.