Angelika J. Trojnarski
- Anna Lilli Garai
- Mar 14
- 4 min read
Angelika J. Trojnarski examines the tension between nature’s force and fragility. Her research in Texas, Iceland, and Mallorca informs paintings that capture the interplay of beauty and destruction. Working with soot, graphite, and bleach, she builds layered compositions that emphasize contrast and movement.
In "Elements," she reinterprets the four classical elements through an ecological lens, reflecting on environmental vulnerability. Her work raises questions about nature’s resilience and the impact of human intervention, urging a deeper engagement with the forces shaping our world.
Q: Your work often deals with nature’s extremes—fire, storms, erosion. What draws you to these forces?
A: I was born and grew up in Masuria, an intact and untouched natural landscape with over 1,000 lakes in eastern Poland, which shaped my deep love and respect for nature. That is why I, as an adult, passionately elaborate around subtle natural phenomena as well as tactile processes that are intensifying in the Anthropocene, such as glacial melting or wildfires.
I am moved by this overwhelming scenery because it creates a feeling at the intersection of distress and fascination, a feeling of our own smallness in the face of nature's unleashed forces.
Q: You’ve spent time researching wildfires in Greece and Mallorca. How did those experiences shape your approach to painting?
A: For years now, long before these two research projects on forest fires, I have been preoccupied with the rising temperatures and fever of our planet.
To incorporate this fieriness into my work in a literally tangible way, I expose my paintings to a real flame: the oil paint blisters, the glued-on papers burn and leave long streaks of soot on the surface. All these interventions condense the message and allow us to experience the motifs much more directly. We can literally smell the smoke and see the fine dust.
Q: Your paintings combine traditional techniques with experimental materials like soot and bleach. What role do these materials play in how you develop an image?
A: For many years, I have been pursuing the idea that the materials in my paintings should follow the artwork's message, as is common in sculpture. To make the material properties speak, e.g. I apply bleached paper on the canvas to integrate the finest light and color fringes.
When I mix copper powder into my oil paint, I intensify the work's reference to electromagnetism. Why imitate soot streaks by painting them when I can create the real thing with a gas burner?
With the quality and texture of such additive materials, I add an individual tension to the traditional painting.
Additionally, with my collaged layering, I build a haptic landscape on the surface the viewer may explore: Alternating between pencil and oil paint, between spray paint and bleach, between opaque and transparent areas, gloss and mattness, colored paper and raw linen.
Q: In "Elements", you reference the classical four elements. What made you revisit this concept in a contemporary context?
A: "Elements" is based on the Greek theory of the elements and allows water, air, fire, and earth to merge into a sensually tangible impression.
The ancient Greeks tried to understand the world. Their four-element theory shaped our understanding of nature for centuries. With our science, there was understandably no longer any room for this vague model of explaining the world.
Today, however, I am noticing that the contemporary ecology movement is increasingly trying to understand the earth as a whole since its Gaia roots. I think it is important that we regain an overall view of nature and take a holistic view of nature with all its dependencies and interactions.
Q: Many of your works suggest both destruction and regeneration. How do you see that tension playing out in your process?
A: I would not call it destruction. It's more nature's fragility.
I apply the oil color either with a brush or a palette knife in an expressive but deliberate style – and sometimes remove it again. This creates a constant struggle in my paintings between lower and upper layers, between transparent and opaque, healed and damaged surfaces, generating a source of energy and suspense through color and contrast. They are not only an expression of the complexity of my theme, but also symbolize the struggle between passing and becoming, failing and striving, harming and protecting.
Q: You’ve mentioned that art can reach people in ways that scientific facts or warnings sometimes can’t.
How do you think about that responsibility as an artist?
A: Most people are not moved by figures, diagrams, and scientific papers any longer, and facts about the climate crisis have become routine – they rarely arouse curiosity today.
Art adds a different, empathetic, more poetic view to scientific data, facts, and contexts. It translates science's sobriety into emotion and poetry to enter people's minds and hearts.
Through my art, I try to sensibilize people, give them a sense of wonder and awe in nature, and encourage them to reflect, involve themselves, and take action to preserve our environment.
Q: Your work has been exhibited in different countries. Have you noticed how audiences respond differently to the themes you explore?
A: From conversations at openings or in artist talks, I did not notice any differences in reception. I think this is comprehensible, as my art is a global topic that concerns and interests all people equally. I am pleased when more and more visitors come to my exhibitions who are either already involved in nature or are interested in ecological issues and want to experience them in a different way, namely in the context of art.
Q: What are you currently working on? Are there new ideas or directions you’re interested in exploring?
A: At the end of February, I will open my solo exhibition "Thinking like a Mountain" at the Märkisches Museum Witten and then travel to the Baltic Sea for a working scholarship from the city of Bremerhaven.
For me, this six-month stay is an exciting continuation of my previous work and research residencies as in Iceland, Texas, Greece, or on the Zugspitze.
During my time there, I incorporate the scientific expertise of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research and in late summer, I also plan to climb a high mountain again!