Between shadow and light

Abstract

Ewa Szkudlarek’s book Portrety cieni Witkacego [Witkacy’s shadow portraits] is an innovative look at the work of Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz. The author discusses the visual and the metaphorical aspects of shadows by analyzing the artist’s oeuvre across different media. This has not been done so far. The shadow connects and differentiates the works of Witkacy. The multi-faceted nature of the shadow in the context of culture, psychology, psychoanalysis, and existentialism unites Witkacy’s work. The shadow acts as a metaphor for the human condition, human vulnerability and mortality.