Otecki

Wojciech Kołacz (born 1984), otherwise known as Otecki is a visual artist and printmaker from Wrocław, Poland. His work mixes traditional Polish iconography with fragments of the contemporary world, often blurring figuration and abstraction with bold but ethereal colour palettes. 

Much of Otecki’s work references folklore law with the mystical and magical that can be found in nature. Otecki works at various scales, and has made many large-scale murals and mosaics in Poland and internationally. 

The images on display in the Royal Festival Hall windows are abstract with hints of what could be landscapes or foliage. These dreamlike spaces allow the viewer to complete the narrative. The colours appear acid-drenched, hinting toward the natural world, as well as the spiritual, as fragments of leaves and night-time skies merge with blocks of colour. 

The images are originally created as paintings using thin layers of acyclic paint which drips and bleeds and then is over painted to create the final frame. These paintings have been reproduced to fit the mid-century architecture of the Royal Festival Hall. As well as the images, these works create a warm glow of coloured light in the space.

The titles give further insight into the meaning of the works. ‘Harmonia mundi’ is Latin for ‘harmony of the world’, referring to the ancient idea that the universe is structured by divine order, based on mathematical, musical and geometric principles.

Otecki’s project is kindly supported by the Polish Cultural Institute in London.