Jakub Kossakowski (Art After Hours)

For me, the landscape is just a starting point for further exploration. I don't like literalness. So I open my heart to colours and try to make the landscape I create not a mere illustration, but a story of emotions and moods.

The ‘Icons’ series of drawings was created as a tribute to famous personalities who have shaped our culture. Each portrait in this series is not only a technical challenge for me, but also an emotional journey. I have tried to capture not only the external appearance, but above all the character and uniqueness of each of these figures. I want the viewer to be able to feel their personality and the impact they have had on the world. ‘Icons’ is an opportunity for me to rediscover these extraordinary people.

A portrait of a person is a magical journey into the soul, captured in lines and colors. It is a symphony of expressions and light, revealing not only the physical figure, but also emotions, dreams and experiences. The face is a map of time, it is a fragment of existence enchanted in time.

The leitmotif of the "Golden" series is TIME. Time that passes inexorably, exposing us to various trials and experiences, the fruits of which accumulate within us.

I have always been inspired by the story of a particular person, an individual. We are the sum of all possible experiences - they define us, build us up, patina us, change and transform us. There is so much going on inside of us! It's not true that you can't be sad and happy at the same time. It's not true that you can't experience opposite emotions at the same time. You can, because that's how we are made.
We have many layers of this infinity within us. The infinity of layering. And that's what inspires me. I want to show it. Hence, similar leitmotifs recur so often in my works: eyes, swirls and loops. We swirl inside ourselves, we build up....

Therefore, my natural choice was to combine the techniques of painting and collage. Fragments of pages that are half a century old, shreds of objects that build the whole... And on top of them, more and more layers.

Sometimes it's more important what you can't see, what is already obliterated and covered, than what you see on top. I like mystery, because every person has his own hidden one - sometimes hidden even from himself! However, even the heaviest baggage of experience can shine in us and be a source of light, if only we use it well. That's why you can find both patina and gilding in my works.

I feel that I paint TIME.

... But why FARAS? It is inspired by the impressive permanent exhibition on view at the National Museum in Warsaw. Faras is a village in northern Sudan. In the 1960s, the then authorities displaced the local population due to the planned flooding of the area and the construction of the Assuan Dam. As part of an international rescue expedition organized under the auspices of UNESCO, Polish archaeologists went there, guided by the mission to save the relics of Nubian culture.
The result of their search was the discovery of the remains of an early Christian cathedral from the end of the seventh century AD, as well as Byzantine-Coptic-style wall paintings made using the al secco technique.

These amazing works of art were moved to a safe place and still exude incredible power and beauty, and the damage caused over the years only adds to their magic.

My heart is always in the far north.... Arctic themes, Scandinavia, colder climates. They are closer to me than the sunny south... But as is often the case, there will always be an exception to the rule. I visited Lisbon on the occasion of a film project I was directing and immediately fell in love with the city.

If Lisbon didn't exist, it would have to be invented for artists. My interest in "time," in "layers," where "here and now" as well as "there and once" happens simultaneously, manifested itself in the most beautiful setting - the Portuguese capital. If someone doesn't believe in magic, he will change his mind walking through the streets of Lisbon.

For me, the whole series of works I painted inspired by the city is not just a "postcard". It is a depiction of time and magic. I had to share it with others.

I chose the technique of watercolor and water markers to capture the softness of the city and ink to enhance the effects. This required great discipline. First, I made a detailed sketch in pencil, then in ink, then the first color fills, as well as working again with the outline. The result, however, was worth the effort.