Curatorial text

In the Melete Gallery’s inaugural exhibition “Between Body and Space. Intangible landscapes, fragility and variability of perception.” we present series of works by two artists Dominika Jezewska and Judith Le Roux, who engage in a dialogue with each other and the viewers, exploring how fragile and variable perception shapes our understanding of the world around us. It reveals the complex relationship between body, space and the intangible and material landscapes we create in our minds and in reality. This fragility is reflected in the body’s own vulnerability, which reacts to, is indifferent to, or adapts to the spaces which it occupies.

The exhibition also invites us on a journey through the complicated relationships that connect humans with the space around them. Dominika’s and Judith’s works explore their own feelings in a territory that can be both a source of comfort and anxiety. Dominika Jezewska in “Anatomy of Perception” created in collaboration with Israa al Balushi takes us to the desert where a woman, deprived of the company of other people, interacts with virtual objects. These intangible, multi-coloured spatial compositions, created as hand drawings in VR, become both her companions and tools for exploring space. The woman moves through an endless desert, devoid of vegetation, animals or other people. Sometimes far in the background we can see mountains, sometimes water. Bright colours and harmonious frames contrast with the harshness of the desert landscape, creating an atmosphere of disturbing beauty. Virtual objects, although immaterial, turn tangible, and become an integral part of the composition. Only one photo shows a space devoid of human presence; what’s left is a desert and virtual reality.

The body, perceived as both tangible as in Judith’s series “Loneliness of Bodies” and “Tango in Blue”, or ethereal, as in Dominika’s “Anatomy of Perception” and “please enter.”, serves as a medium to navigate and expand the boundaries of human experience, identity, movement and existence. The invisible, abstract layers of meaning we impose on our surroundings are deeply personal, subjective, shaped by our internal and external conditions, making each individual experience of space uniquely intimate. The body becomes a tool that plays a key role in navigating and interpreting space.

In the “Loneliness of Bodies”, Judith potrays a woman in empty spaces, surrounded by black virtual smoke. The heroine is positioned with her back to the camera, in abandoned alleys, facing the walls, on empty staircases and in the desert. Raw, desolated landscapes, rough and hard exteriors, sharp surfaces and cool colours increase the feeling of isolation and loneliness. The motionless woman seems to be lost in a maze of her own thoughts and feelings, as well as concrete, metal, bricks and sand. The virtual smoke surrounding her body does not evoke any positive interaction, but rather surrounds her and creates a barely transparent barrier that separates her from the outside world. One of the photos shows a space in which the only trace of human presence is an umbrella abandoned on the floor, open, useless, lying in the semi-dark staircase, surrounded by lazy virtual smoke.

Whether it is the body of a woman playing with virtual elements in the desert, or a lone woman’s back turned to us in enclosed spaces, or a fragment of a body that touches the floor with its feet, or finally the dancing bodies of a group of various people equally awkward and shy. All of them show us a completely different feeling and a different perspective on not only the body, but also the space which they are located in and which they inhabit.

The bright colours and playful circumstances do not always bring joy. In the same way, a body with its back turned to us in enclosed spaces does not only provoke feelings of anxiety or loneliness. It can also prompt us to reflect and recognise its vulnerability and the limitations of its physical form as well as some cultural constraints. The body also acts as a mediator and a link between the personal, internal experience and the external, shared environment.

The artists use virtual, processed and augmented reality to create new layers of meaning and transform the perception of reality. Virtual objects become a metaphor for our inner worlds, our hopes and dreams, our fears and desires. The space in which these objects appear is no longer just a background but becomes an active participant in events. Both Judith and Dominika use space as a tool to explore emotions and mental states. The desert, as a symbol of vast emptiness, contrasts with the claustrophobic interiors of buildings, creating tension and strengthening the sense of alienation.

The subject matter of our exhibition’s series attempts to explore the delicate and constantly evolving relationship between the human body and the spaces it occupies, both physical and conceptual. It analyses how our perceptions of space are shaped by intangible elements – emotions, memories, sensory experiences, and virtual elements – and emphasises the fragility of these perceptions, which change and adapt to the new contexts.

Sometimes they are positive and sometimes they exude loneliness or helplessness. However, the works in the exhibition also give us a message of hope and of taming these spaces, our feelings and perhaps ourselves. The fragility of our perceptions creates anxiety, fear, but also curiosity and excitement.

In the “please enter.” series, Dominika invites us to a journey through a liminal space where the senses are heightened and the boundaries between the “self” and the outside world are blurred. Poetic instructions, written on paper, become a map leading us through this mysterious landscape. In the accompanying video installations, we see fragments of nature, almost devoid of human presence, which become a metaphor for an inner journey. Liminal spaces are places that evoke feelings of nostalgia, sadness, anxiety or comfort, places of transition, places “in between.” “please enter.” is a conceptual series and can take any form. In our exhibition, poetic instructions aimed at taming the liminal space and perhaps also reality itself take the form of inscriptions on the wall and video installations.

The artists’ works show that our involvement with the world is not static, but depends on factors such as culture, memory, physical and emotional experiences. The same space can evoke a range of emotional responses depending on the person, their history and their moment in time and space. The body thus becomes a vessel to store these experiences, allowing visitors to reflect on how past experiences and memories shape their current perceptions of new spaces.

Judith’s “Tango in Blue” is a series of monochrome photos of couples dancing tango. Although dance is usually associated with intimacy and connection, in these photos the couples seem to be distant from everything, immersed in their own world. The cold colours, blurred frames and desolation of space emphasize the sense of loneliness, even in a moment of intimacy. Judith photographs people dancing and focuses on their interaction. The space is reduced to the background: perhaps what we see is a part of the wall, or the floor, or a blurred image of a room. It is a monochrome space without any characteristic features, a space that complements the dancers, their movements, thoughts and emotions.

Through the series of works by our two female artists, we access regions of the unknown, the sensory, the immaterial, but also those very close to us. Looking at the bodies in the exhibition, we can feel the full range of diverse emotions, from positive spatial imagery, through loneliness, helplessness, a sensory journey to oblivion in dance and a sense of intimacy with another body. Our perception is aided by Dominika’s poetic instructions on how we can tame these spaces, give them our perspective and how to bring strength from their fragility. The exhibition invites visitors to consider the body not just as a passive object, but as an active, perceptive subject that is essential to experiencing, shaping and understanding space.

Moving through the exhibition, our bodies can transform abstract concepts into personal, tangible experiences. The body becomes central to the exploration of identity, vulnerability and dynamics and visitors are encouraged to feel their own physicality and the way they inhabit the space.

“Between Body and Space” is an invitation to reflect on our perception of reality, the body and intangible and material objects. Is space just a background for our experiences? Or does it actively shape our emotions and perceptions? How important to us is the sense of closeness and connection? These questions do not have clear answers, and the exhibition becomes a place where each viewer can find their own interpretations.