An intimate conversation with one’s own origins. The Herbarium series is a collection of wall lights serving as both
a tribute to Polish flora and an expression of love for a mother. The genesis of this endeavor is rooted in an
effort to transcend generational gaps, aiming to strengthen an invaluable connection and continue a long-standing
family tradition of botanical appreciation. Inviting her to collaborate started from a pure desire to encode this
irreplaceable bond and family history into a permanent, material form.
We live in an era where the wild landscapes surrounding us are undergoing irrevocable transformations, subtly
slipping away with the passage of each season. The sprawling, untamed banks of the Vistula River, rich with life,
face the constant march of time and environmental shifts. In response to this fleeting reality, the project seeks to
freeze these ephemeral moments in a gentle embrace of light. Each object serves as a record of time, capturing a
single, specific species and documenting the exact state of the Vistula’s flora at the precise moment of its
collection.
Through this act of preservation, the collection transforms into a glowing archive, a sanctuary where delicate
petals and stems become an object of appreciation. It is a rebellion against forgetting, capturing the fragility of
the natural world before it inevitably fades. By sealing these botanical specimens within luminous frames, we try to
create a timeless monument to the fleeting beauty of our local biosphere, allowing the spirit of the riverside to
endure within the walls of a human home.
The true catalyst for this entire journey was the discovery of a remarkably well-preserved artifact from the past.
The project began with a fascination for a mother’s personal herbarium, an archive dating back over 40 years. Within
its carefully pressed pages, one can clearly see the initial sparks of a lifelong calling – an early record of a
passion that eventually led to her career in floristry. It was this physical proof of her youthful dedication that
inspired the creation of a modern successor.
The Herbarium series is an ongoing process, a continuous ritual that dictates the rhythm of our work throughout the
changing seasons. The plants featured in subsequent pieces are regularly gathered along the banks of the Vistula
River by both Mateusz and his mother, hand-picked during their dedicated walks. Once harvested, these botanical
treasures are meticulously prepared, dried, and cataloged, preserved in collaboration with the artist’s mother,
using a specific technique they have refined over the recent years.
The true power of the Herbarium lies in its ability to reveal the hidden architecture of nature. By illuminating the
specimens from below, the light pierces through the delicate plant tissues, allowing the observer to discover
microscopic details and complex venations that remain invisible to the naked eye. This luminescent exposition grants
the collection a significant educational dimension. Ultimately, through these glowing frames, we wish to tell a
poignant story while simultaneously drawing the viewer’s undivided attention to the endlessly fascinating, yet
fragile, world of Polish nature.
