Karolina Jabłońska Apron, 2023

Apron depicts a figure dressed in a red pinstripe cooking apron, one end of which is ablaze. Fragments of smoldering fabric fall onto the floor, all while the figure, whose hands appear exaggerated in size and with a distinct purplish hue, cling to the edge of the apron. A recurring motif, the work is a perfect example of Jabłońska’s mixture of low-key drama and hilarity. Deeply felt and keenly observed, the work captures the potential dangers that can take place in everyday situations from cooking to taking a stroll in a torrential thunderstorm. As the artist has put it, “the paintings come from small sensory and emotional impressions.” Yet, the personal is also political: metaphors for emotional states, inherent in these paintings are references to the role of women, the existential threat to their bodies and restrictions imposed by political realities.