We were awakened and the awakening was not pleasant. It was a bit like a thump at the door early in the morning instead of the expected warm brush of the lips on the ear and the whispered invitation to continue having fun beyond dreaming. Shaken out from the warmth of our hearth and home, startled from our daydreaming, we are looking around in panic, because nothing looks the way it used to just a while ago, and danger lurks around every corner. There is no coming back, but nobody can take our memories away, and the dreams of a happy life in a fool’s paradise are a gift we can give ourselves.
Achtelik & Falkus’s exhibition is an invitation to the world of the awakened, who fearfully look around with their crusty, sleepy eyes, to find a way back to the lost land of dreams, to quickly run away from the new, disagreeable reality.

Lena Achtelik (born 1989) – graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice and of history at the University of Silesia in Katowice. She lives and works in Katowice. Her work revolves around painting, book arts, and creating objects. The main focus of her activities is thanatology as well as the areas of cultural memory and history of symbols.

Monika Falkus (born 1993) – graduate of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice and of art history at the University of Silesia in Katowice. Her work is focused on oil painting, creating installations, and video arts. She penetrates the subjects of love and women’s nature related to intimacy and sexuality. In her activities, she draws from tradition, fables, and her personal memories. She believes that moods have colours.