Jagna Birecka is a Polish woman living in Belgium with a Dutch husband. After becoming disillusioned with her day job as an architect, she became increasingly involved in her photography and other activities, until they became her full-time occupation.

Her images of the intimate parts of plants are striking, a little reminiscent of the photography of Karl Blossfeldt. They are at the same time delicate and bold, beautifully layered and lit.

 

euphorbia

 

When I asked Jagna a few questions about her experiences with art, especially as a child, this was her response.

I have always loved to keep my hands occupied and I don’t remember how it is not to create anything. What I do remember though are the walls of the apartment where I lived with my parents. They were huge and could hold many, many drawings – but I also remember my parents not being very happy with what I thought were beautifully decorated walls.

 

haworthia

 

I also remember yarn. My grandma was great at crocheting and knitting; she taught me how and I made a crocheted skirt for my sister’s doll at the age of 7. My other grandma was a painter. She was very talented, I especially like the watercolours she painted when she was young.

 

hippeastrum

 

I asked my grandma once to paint a copy of my favourite painting by Modigliani. She was not really convinced since he was by far not her favourite painter – but eventually I did get the painting for my 18th birthday. I also got something even better: my grandma admitted that she fell in love with Modigliani’s art. Now every time I look at the painting I remember what my grandma said: ‘all it takes to get to know new exciting things is to keep your mind open – or let the others open it for you’.

 

white hoya flowers

 

Jagna has certainly taken this advice to heart, and her work is constantly evolving.

I don’t look at what I have already done, I always look for new things that I haven’t done yet. This is what keeps me going and gives me the motivation for my work – I am always trying new approaches, new media and new techniques.

Photography, design and art have always been important parts of my life and I always found the time for them. Because of my various activities my creative space is not limited only to my studio. It starts in my head and ends wherever I find myself working at the moment.

 

epiphyllum

 

Jagna admits to being crazy about plants, but her current work involves photography in a quite different way. She works on a small scale with polymer clay, layering and slicing it to make modernist-inspired jewellery pieces, and then photographs and prints them on large formats (around 60x90cm and more), to create strongly abstract images.

You can find more of her plant photography in her Etsy shop here, and you can find her polymer clay pieces, as well as the large format photography on her website here.

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I would like to thank Jagna for sharing her images and words.