28 February 2023 – Museum of Ceramics in Bolesławiec

The more we know about the world, the finer we are in the face of its immensity. The only cure for growing anxiety is to serve irrational beauty, biological continuity, to learn about the matter of the world and to record by musical, literary and, above all, plastic methods the traces of man, for without this the universe will lose its meaning.

Czesław Matyjewicz

This post from the series “Boleslawiec artistic community” was prepared within the framework of the project “Boleslawiec – 30 years of local government” implemented by the Museum of Ceramics and the Boleslawiec Cultural Center – International Ceramics Center

Czesław Matyjewicz was born in Boleslawiec. He was encouraged to explore art by his elementary school art teacher Regina Kasprzycka, then developed his craft under Stanisława Wojda-Pytlińska. In the second half of the 1970s, he studied at the Wrocław High School of Fine Arts under the guidance of Krzesława Maliszewska, Zbigniew Paluszak, Stanisław Kukla, Bogdan Hofman and Jerzy Biniec. He studied at the Department of Sculpture at the State Higher School of Visual Arts (now the E. Geppert Academy of Fine Arts) in Wroclaw under professors Łucja Skomorowska, Alfreda Poznańska, Jerzy Popowski, Leon Podsiadły and Waldemar Szkatuła. After graduation, he served as an assistant at the same department.

In the 1990s, he engaged in stonemasonry and restoration work, first at the Wroclaw Monument Conservation Workshop, and then at the “Grossular” company, which he co-founded. During this time he participated, as an assistant to Alfreda Poznańska, in the restoration of the stonework decor of the Edith Stein Chapel.

After returning to Boleslawiec in 1995, he ran the sculpture and drawing studio at the Boleslawiec Cultural Center for 10 years. During that time he also served as commissioner of children’s and youth’s ceramic-sculpture open-air workshops. In 2009-2011, he took care of the House of Creative Work in Parzyce, created on the initiative of the Municipal Cultural Center in Nowogrodziec. Later he also taught drawing classes at the St. Wyspianski Youth Cultural Center in Boleslawiec. Since 2015, he has been teaching sculpture and drawing again at the Boleslawiec Cultural Center – International Ceramics Center.

He started creating in clay only after returning to Boleslawiec. That’s when he became enthralled with its versatile possibilities, but also learned about its limitations. His other passion is geology, so in his works he often combines ceramics with stone. In addition, he likes to juxtapose these materials with wood. He describes his creative attitude as follows: “I’m looking for emotions in art, for human beings. Everything we do, even abstracting from art, should turn into a jewel. I do not understand or appreciate ‘momentary’ works, such ephemera, which are created out of the need of the moment or discussion with reality.”

Czeslaw Matyevich has repeatedly participated in the International Sculpture and Ceramics Plein-Air in Boleslawiec. A plaque with his handprint has been placed in the Avenue of the Great Ceramists of Boleslawiec, located next to the building of the Boleslawiec Cultural Center – International Ceramics Center.