Iwona DEMKO (born 1974), Mandorla; 2022

Satin, painting loom; 80 x 80 cm
Signed on the back: Iwona Demko 2022/ Author's sticker

Iwona Demko, one of the most expressive figures of the Polish art scene, from the so-called "pink sheep" of the Faculty of Sculpture of the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow became a candidate for the rector of her alma mater in 2020. Since 2008, she has been a research and teaching employee of the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow. In 2012, she received the title of dr. of fine arts in the artistic discipline "fine arts." In 2016, she received the degree of Doctor of Fine Arts. To date, she has participated in more than 160 exhibitions at home and abroad. She has presented her works at, among others, the National Museum in Poznań, the Center for Contemporary Art "Łaźnia" in Gdańsk, the Center for Polish Sculpture in Orońsko and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow. Curator of feminist exhibitions. Initiator and organizer of the "Year of Women with ASP". Scholarship holder of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage for the continuation of research on the first female students of the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow. Creates objects, installations, site-specific works, videos, works in the Internet space.

"Mandorla (Italian for almond) is an oval halo found in painting and bas-relief, most often found as surrounding the figures of Jesus, Mary, God the Father and sometimes saints.
It symbolizes and emphasizes the divine nature of the figure depicted. The mandorla is one of the oldest motifs in sacred art. At first it took the shape of an almond (from which it got its name), then it began to take different shapes (such as a rhombus).
Catherine Blackledge in her book "Vagina. The Secret History of Feminine Power" links the mandorla to the ancient cult of the vagina, recognizing it as a symbol of the female genitalia, the place from which everyone came into the world."
Iwona Demko