2025
video

Ksenia Gryckiewicz’s Carer is a safe space in which care – for another person, but also for oneself – is elevated to a central act. Projected onto a wall near the Respite Care Centre, the work explores (self-)care, as well as loss and mourning – subjects often suppressed in our culture, yet deeply intertwined with our lives and with the Aniołki district itself.

In the intimate video, we observe the artist performing gestures and actions of care towards herself. We see her gentle touch, her embraces, the stroking and combing of her hair. The work takes the form of a self-portrait, yet through the doubling of her figure, the artist evokes not only the support offered to those who are ill, but also to their carers.

The Hospice Foundation was established in Aniołki in 1983 and remains an important part of the district. This summer, reconstruction began at the facility and patients were temporarily relocated to the Respite Care Centre, which has been operating since 2023 and provides support to the families of people living with illness. The centre offers temporary, free care for patients, giving their families a chance to rest, recover and attend to their own needs.

The work of the centre became an inspiration for Gryckiewicz –  her video forms a quiet backdrop to the stories that unfold there. Drawing on vocal techniques used in trauma therapy, the artist creates subtle, abstract sounds that have a soothing effect on the nervous system.

KSENIA GRYCKIEWICZ is a painter from Belarus, a graduate of the Faculty of Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków. Her practice is rooted in the classical tradition of the Belarusian school of painting, which provides the foundation for her evolving artistic language. Her work is permeated by the experience of migration, which serves as a backdrop for reflection on identity, belonging and relationships. Gryckiewicz explores emotions, inner states and personal stories, transforming them into painterly metaphors. In examining the tensions between the individual and the collective, she directs attention to interpersonal relations and the idea of community.