Sylwester Ambroziak
was born in 1964 in Łowicz (Poland). He studied on the Faculty of Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw (Poland), where he made his debut by presenting his sculptures and performances before his graduation. He received many times the scholarships from, inter alia, Notoro Foundation and the Centre of Polish Sculpture in Orońsk, Culture Foundation and Kulczyk Foundation. He was also nominated to receive “Paszporty Polityki” prize in 1994, 1999 and 2008.
Ambroziak is a versatile artist who specialises in carving, drawing but also installations and experimental animated films. His works are associated with New Expression in “Young Art” and they are characterised by simplicity and brutality in the form of deformation. Moreover, they are inspired by folk nature and African art. The artist also does not keep off from the biblical and Christian topics, although his interpretations are far away from formulaic canons and doctrine.
The figures of Ambroziak are mostly sizeable sculptures made of wood but currently he also uses silicone, fibreglass and resin. His sculptures possess short legs, extended torso and long, simian hands. In turn, the disproportionate heads are distinguished by the features related to the roots of civilisation. A significant role in his artistic activity plays spirituality in the positive aspect of primitivity where the shamans were the artists, priests as well as healers. Another meaningful factor was the political situation in Poland in ’80s and prudishness of the Catholic society. All those artistic measures cause that these grotesque deformed figures become almost provocatively ugly. The artist calls them “Minotaurs” – humanoid figures with anonymous faces.
Ambroziak also looks for inspirations in comic-books, cartoons, science fiction movies and in general mass culture. In this way the artist casts his mind back to the childhood in which the unlimited imagination played an essential part. As a result this set of factors contributed to the sculptures’ silhouettes, their rescaling, deformation, factures and roughness.
Sylwester Ambroziak presented his works on over 120 solo exhibitions and over 150 group exhibitions in Poland and all around the world.