Series: “The Black Hańcza River”

Life, a river, a current. And we are immersed in its flow, with no way out. We drift because we must.
Sometimes we like it, sometimes we don’t. Sometimes we want to, and other times we’ve had enough.
We don’t know what lies beyond the next bend. A gentle landscape? A rocky waterfall?
We keep moving forward with curiosity, believing that whatever awaits us will be the best for us.
That, for heaven’s sake, things will finally be okay, right? Actually, they already are.
The bad will pass, because it always does. After all, we are in constant motion—we’re flowing.

With trust in our God (whatever He/She/It may be), we float on the water, surrendering to fate.
Breathing deeply and calmly, until we become the water ourselves. We are living water.
Without resistance, without struggle.
We drift.

My beloved river, the Black Hańcza, posed for these paintings.

Before creating the piece with a woman floating on the water, I painted studies.
This is how the two paintings of aquatic plants above came to be. The theme of the river’s current fascinated me so much that it lingered in my mind for several more months. This resulted in additional works: “The Hair of the Black Hańcza” and “The Living River.”

We are incredibly fortunate that in northeastern Poland, rivers are crystal clear and thrive in their fullness of life.