What If…? & My Little Secret

Helena Minginowicz, Barbara Cabaj

Sticky Handshakes


What If…? (Co jeśli…?) – Helena Minginowicz

2023, acrylic on canvas

A ladder in her tights, traces of fur on her clothes and a sweaty hand that, like her outfit, betrays her disobedience. The sour grimace of the body fragment expresses scantily concealed affectations.

My Little Secret (Mój sekrecik) – Barbara Cabaj

2023, oil on canvas

The figure in the painting participates in a child’s game of “secrecy”, which involves burying secret treasures in the ground and covering them with a piece of glass. The cut hand alludes to the artist’s fear of a life-threatening infection. The painting also metaphorically addresses the feeling of shame due to peculiar, incomprehensible phobias.