Spirit of the Carpathians. Marian Pażucha. Sculpture

Marian Pażucha, a passionate sculptor and painter, has been devoted to the art of wood carving and painting since the early 1970s.  He nostalgically reaches back to the past, draws inspiration from local legends, tales and folk traditions, invariably referring to Carpathian themes and the heritage of Polish folk art. His work focuses on the topics of the Carpathians, their inhabitants, nature and the material and spiritual culture of the region. The artist presents the architecture and religion of Polish highlanders, Lemkos, Jews and Roma in a colorful and witty way, describing the past times with sentiment and a smile. The characters created by the artist come to life thanks to his imagination. He has won numerous awards and distinctions in sculpture and painting competitions, and has taken part in numerous open-air artistic events. His achievements include numerous exhibitions and thousands of works that are highly valued and can be found in numerous collections both in Poland and abroad. Marian Pażucha's exhibition is the second individual exhibition at the Museum of the Sądecka Region (2012, branch of the Nikifor Museum in Krynica-Zdrój). This time we will present the artist's latest works. Marian Pażucha was born in 1951 in Nowy Sącz. He graduated from the People's University in Wzdów, specializing in artistic handicrafts, and the State Higher Vocational School in Nowy Sącz, majoring in Visual Arts and Digital Image Creation. Since 1973, he has been involved in wood carving and painting, working with oil, watercolor and pastel techniques. He has master qualifications in wooden sculpture. Former lecturer of sculpture and applied forms at the Folk University of Artistic Crafts in Wola Sękowa. He is interested in ethnology and culture of the Carpathians.