The subject matter of my work is very broad. Writing about what inspires me would have to be updated quite often…
So if I could talk about some fairly repeatable reference, it is the image of the moment, the situation in which I found the object, or rather I would like to capture and pass on to the recipient that fraction of a second that is in my memory. I love the mythologies of the world, especially słowiańską. I am fascinated by science fiction topics, but also social psychology, philosophy and anthropology, and since childhood, history.
I find brilliant topics in the world of fauna and flora, and in particular in the field of entomology.
On the one hand, a broad perspective makes it easier for me to take on infinitely different topics, which is useful in the case of special orders for clients. On the other hand, it greatly complicates focusing on a specific collection.
I could compare my portfolio to a sketchbook from a journey through life, where the textures of the sculptures, both those made of clay and metal, became a reflection of my illness.
This disease first brought me to the edge of existence, to finally strengthen and immunize me against all adversities from people and fate.
I am an electronics engineer by education, an economic technician and a master etnologii, and by passion a sculptor, ceramicist and metalworker.
I learned the secrets of ceramics for years, asking in the Keramos ceramics supply store in Bielsko-Biała.
I bought clay, glazes, oxides there, and my first works were fired there. In 2010 I also completed the course “Artistic Ceramics I, II and III degree” led by a ceramic artist Remigiusza Gryta.
I discovered the secrets of metal sculpture on my own, empirically, first at the age of 12 (1989), by learning to weld with a single-phase electrode. spawarką which required a lot of patience from a skilled welder.
The first preserved steel sculpture of my authorship dates back to 1994 or 1995, and I entitled it “Apophis” at the time. It was created from an element of the exhaust manifold of a Fiat 125p, a piece of pipe that I had lent my father, and a few round bars from recycling.
The beginnings of my adventure with art, like with most children, began with crayons and a sheet of paper, through the first sketches of family members or landscapes made with watercolors.
However, when I first found a picture of an ancient Discus Thrower in a history book and molded it from plasticine with such exceptional ease as if I had been doing it for the last fifty years, I felt this unforgettable feeling of ecstasy that accompanies me to this day when I create a sculpture.
Interestingly, in art lessons at school I couldn’t create anything that I would be happy with. I couldn’t and can’t create when I’m in a group or when someone is looking at me. Everything only comes out when I’m alone. This psychological phenomenon was often the cause of funny situations when I brought homework, the grade of which was lowered as if it had been done by one of my siblings studying at art school. At that time, my imagination was not limited to art, as I also constructed road vehicles, snow vehicles and river rafts. Perhaps it was a good thing that the project of a submarine from a barrel powered by a bicycle gear did not come to fruition!
Why didn’t I graduate from any art school?
As my father said when, after primary school, I was going to the art high school in Bielsko-Biała: “artists have money, but only after death” and since there was no prosperity at home, I was looking for an education that would give me the possibility of earning an income.
After the high school exam (1996), none of us found employment in our profession, and the design and production of electronic circuits were taken over by computers, and there were queues of unemployed people with CVs in their hands in front of the workplaces. Some went to work wherever they could, others went to continue their education.
The end of high school was a very humanistic period of my life. I immersed myself in literature and psychology, fascinated by Sigmund Freud and Carl Gustav Jung.
Unfortunately, I failed the exam at the Jagiellonian University, putting in a test on questions from theatre…
In order not to waste time, at the urging of a friend, I enrolled in a post-secondary school with an economic profile. I was convinced by the fact that there were eight of us in the year… the rest were girls!
Previously, I spent 4 years in a school where 99.9998% of the students were male.
I felt like a monk who had left the monastery and ended up in a girls’ dormitory. I have very fond memories of that time.
When I became an economic technician specializing in accounting and finance, it was time to return to the subject of artistic direction. I submitted documents to the Faculty of Arts at the University of Silesia in Cieszyn. I came to the exam. I listened to the conversations of future students and submitted documents for ethnology!
The beginning of studies was an exceptional experience, especially academic life.
Unfortunately, at the turn of 2002/2003, the disease appeared like a bolt from the blue. Within a year, 90% of my skin surface turned into a cracking and bleeding white crust… The result was depression, which worsened the condition of my skin. I did not finish the semester. I interrupted my studies for two years, fighting with myself and the disease. Constant questions like: “Oh my God! What do you have on your hands?” put me off contact with people. Every time I went to the store and reached out my hand was a trauma. I found myself on the edge.
The turning point in my life was Dermatologist Dr. Ligia Matyszczyk, who subjected me to radiation treatment. My physical and mental condition improved.
The second important factor was changing my attitude to the world. That is, to become resistant to people’s looks and comments. Reject everything that is stressful. Zero defeatism! Optimism!
Considering that this is an incurable disease and returns time and time again with greater or lesser intensity, the psyche is the most important in this case.
I will never be cured. An accidental blow with the hand on the edge of the table ends with a cut. But I stopped worrying about it.
“The meaning of events is revealed with a delay. You just have to wait it out. What is today only pure suffering turns out to be the vestibule of happiness and wisdom after some time.”
Katarzyna Nosowska – And I told her
After returning to the university, I seriously started to pursue sculpture. On the one hand, the company of students from the art department, on the other, the sculpture studio in the basement of the dormitory, which I could only look into through the window. And comparing the sculptures of the university students with my abilities inspired me with self-confidence.
Simultaneous work at Bielsko Fiat on the production line allowed me to buy materials and tools.
I completed my studies without any problems. About a year after defending my master’s thesis, the economic crisis hit the automotive industry. Fiat began to lay off employees. I was offered a severance package or a job at another Fiat factory 43 km away from where I lived at the time. I chose the severance package!
What did I spend it on? Yes! On tools and materials!
2011.I.01 I registered the business activity “ethnoArt.pl Dariusz Fluder”
This was possible thanks to my participation in the program “Idziemy na swoim w subregionie Południowa”, thanks to which I received financial support, with which I bought two basic tools: a kiln for firing ceramics and a mig machine (a professional welding machine). In other words, the equivalent of a spell book and a magic wand in the world of magic.
It was time to use my experience. So I designed new patterns, created them, kept accounts and finances. Unfortunately, I lacked marketing talent, the rest was done by ZUS.
I had children and I had to look for a full-time job. I won’t say where I got a job, but compared to Fiat, I ended up in a rubber boot factory in Cambodia, which was an American company from the electrical industry in Bielsko-Biała.
Before Christmas 2013, we went with a delegation to the agent who employed us to ask about a bonus for Christmas. In response, our contracts were not extended.
Of course, I didn’t give up my passion. At the same time, I created sculptures and the collection grew along with my children. The first exhibitions and fairs appeared.
Today I am a freelancer, which gives me great flexibility. First of all, in terms of peaceful development.
My sculptures can be found with collectors in Poland, Europe, North America and Australia.
I do not accept competition in my life. I follow my own course and constantly search for my own path, primarily by creating what others do not do. So I avoid obvious topics. This is not necessarily a commercial approach, but I believe that one day it will be appreciated.
As you can see from my life, the path to the goal is not necessarily clear and straight, and the horizon is sometimes unclear…
Dariusz Fluder
