Hidden in the tangle of neurons, muscles and skin are memories – the history of each person’s life recorded on a biological level. The hippocampus is an element of the limbic system deeply hidden in the temporal lobe of the cerebral cortex. All the most important processes related to memory take place in it. If its cognitive functions are damaged, the possibilities of learning and assimilating information into long-term memory decrease. Equally harmful is stress – mental tension resulting from various events that take place in a person’s life. We are increasingly finding that while we can control certain aspects of our physiology with the right chemicals, it is a more difficult task for the brain. Not always choosing the right drugs can help us deal with past traumas. The problem lies deeper at the interface between the physical and the spiritual. In many cases, the path to recovery deviates in a less tangible, sometimes even ethereal direction, such as psychotherapy – or art.

In a series of paintings depicting variations on the nervous system, Natalia Bienek asks questions about identity, trauma, memory and reflects on them. As Jolanta Brach-Czaina wrote in‘Mind Membranes’ ‘We do not ask ourselves who we are, because we are afraid to disturb the internal image that has accumulated over the years and that we have managed to
reconcile with our own dreams’. In the case of Bienek’s work, the painting process is an analysis of the past, negotiating the boundaries of one's own self and a way to create new connections enabling communication between the individual and the environment. It is a violation of the ‘inner image’ that must be put back together. By applying subsequent layers of paint, the artist builds an image of her personality. It is her way of identifying not only as a creator, but also in her fight for health and the right to be different. Art, painting, rhythmic brush strokes are for Bienek a spiritual search, an alternative to religion, the systems of which are too oppressive towards women to be able to participate safely in them. Just like in ‘Mind Membranes’, the artist works through her vision of the world and difficulties with self-presentation, which are the problems of contemporary man. She tries to answer the question about human relations with the world as a woman, artist, and a neurodiverse person. The viewer may notice that the theses put forward by Brach-Czaina, although they come from the beginning of the 21st century, are still valid and demand new solutions. The paintings created by Bienek are just one of the answers that a modern woman can give to the question of who she is.

Born in 1983, she lives in Krakow, Poland. Her painting is inspired by bio-art, neurobiology and the beauty of laboratory photos of neurons. Nerve cell morphology became the dominant topic when the artist became interested in neurobiology for personal reasons. In the beginning, she was inspired by the works of famous neurobiologists: Santiago Cajal and Camillo Golgi. It was from them that she picked up her first ideas and suggestions that stimulated her creative process. Delicate, intricate networks of neurons have been transferred to gilded canvases to reflect the beauty and possibilities of the human mind. Her work is in symbiosis with science, art and decorativeness. Over the years, she has developed her own unique technique, which she continues to perfect. Natalia Bienek’s  works are in many private collections around the world.

Memoriae is an exhibition by Natalia Bienek, where pictures of neurons will be shown for the first time, as well as a decisive step towards the world of art. Therefore, the question was asked not only about memory, but also about the resulting relationship of man with the world. Are we able to create new connections between what is inside of us and what is outside? It is also a question of the healing process and the role that the identity of the individual plays in it. It is a struggle for mental space that can be taken away by trauma. It is also an invitation to enter the world that exists at the intersection of medicine, art and  philosophy. The exhibition closes a series of paintings that were created in the years 2017-2022 and is an opening to new artistic searches.

Aleksandra Machaczka, art curator