Stanislaw Baj (b. 1953, Dolhobrody), River

oil, canvas pasted on cardboard,
23 × 33.5 cm light frame
Signed l. d.: "Baj"

"The sheet of river water in constant motion is a matter unlike any other matter in the world. Far from being literal, observing and painting, in silent concentration, I try to fathom the essence of this element; the color, light, mood, character and structural features of the unusual movement of the sheet of flowing water. It is the intersection of the thread of time and man as it crosses its current from one shore to the other. The verticals of the reflections in the water of wild scrub and sky are crossed by a perfectly horizontal line calling the movement of its matter, symbolically forming the axis of the world. The calmly pulsating living mirror of the river water reflects and looks at what is outside, shows the beauty and mystery of its own depths. Words, even interesting, accurate, true words, are a loss to my painting and to me; they seem useless. I try to draw from silence - to seek equilibrium, silence, peace, absolute clarity, purity of message. To free myself from myself, from stress, from bad tension with a sense of not knowing how to paint the River, how to do it. With the hope that painting a small story of one humble line calling the flowing water of the river can give me a chance to do so, the river and painting will suggest an apt form."

Stanislaw Baj, By the Sea of Mist, Stanislaw Baj, Rafal Borcz [exhibition cat.], catalog editor D.Pałys, BWA Bydgoszcz 2021, p. 7.