2024
mural

Stach Szumski’s mural is a geological infographic of sorts – an imagination-opening educational piece that loosely interprets the geological processes typical of Niedźwiednik and the entire region. In this wall painting, the artist sought to illustrate processes associated with the Baltic glaciation, particularly its Pomeranian phase, when the continental glacier began to retreat from the area (around 16,000 to 13,000 years ago).

The rolling ground moraine found at the base of the glacier is an elevation typical of the Tricity coastline and an essential feature of Niedźwiednik’s mountainous landscape. The forms, shapes, and designs in Szumski’s work reflect the migration patterns of erratic boulders brought by the glacier from Scandinavia and the Sudetes. Granites of this origin are another defining element of the Pomeranian landscape.

To create his mural, Szumski used the natural imperfections on the school’s façade. By incorporating damp patches, algae, lichens, plaster cavities, graffiti, and tags, he transformed them into integral parts of his artwork, achieving an organic, expressive form. Niedźwiednik’s erratics and natural resources – lignite, sand, and clay (and the bricks made from it) – inspired the mural’s colour palette. The painting serves as both a backdrop and an addition to the natural monument on the school grounds: Bear’s Boulder.

STACH SZUMSKI (b. 1992) is a visual artist who creates paintings, installations, sculptures, prints, drawings, and interventions in the public space. His painting education is rooted in grassroots practices, particularly exploring uninhabited buildings in Lower Silesia armed with spray paint. Between 2013 and 2016, Szumski co-managed Warsaw’s V9 gallery. From 2015 to 2020, with Karolina Mełnicka, he ran Nomadic State – an art collective and fictional microstate. In his works, he cites and deconstructs iconographic motifs used in human communication.