The Delicate Boldness of Mimi Czajka Graminski

Each of Graminski’s creative projects is a juxtaposition of paradoxical pairings, an expression of beauty by combining inanimate things and bringing them to life, indeed to let them dance. She took old pieces of lace and united them with logs of wood, for example. She takes something massive and pairs it with the most delicate and light. She finds objects and, in the right moment in time, takes these things of the world, the seemingly opposite that exist in the same space, and she uses them as forms of emotional expression. The resulting clash between strength and fragility yields a new object, as the artist pushed herself, releasing something that seems to have been bottled up inside. All of her installations seemingly follow the same free approach. She finds the beauty in things, and takes them to a dance in a fluid swirl, until new objects emerge with a new lightness of being. Some part is vision, the rest is chance. As she said, “Letting the art take me wherever it wants to go.” The result is vast freedom and vivid playfulness. Movement flows out of her art. You sense not just the persistence of sensuality, the human interaction with textures, colors, shapes, light and shadow, but also of the engaging mind joining that dance. The viewer’s senses are transformed and immersed in the feeling of the moment. Graminski instantly evokes a high level of intimacy between her art and the viewer. Her work is not merely a precious object to be looked at, but it becomes a presence that evokes a mood or a feeling. The art engages viewers in new ways. Beyond that, no verbal categorization fits, no explanation is needed, nor would it matter. You look at it and feel it.

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