Every child is a mirror of death

            In his work, Andrzej Staniek explores the concept of identity within a world where biology, technology, and capitalism are increasingly intertwined. His practice originates from a fascination with evolution, mutation, and the body, while also manifesting an interest in the unfamiliar.          

            Although his sculptures possess qualities of xenobiological engineering—a field concerned with designing non-natural biological systems and studying life based on foundations other than Earth-bound DNA, RNA, or amino acids—the “alien” here does not necessarily denote something external. As the artist states in one of his works: “The aliens are inside. The aliens are you.” Alienness thus emerges as an internal condition, residing within our drives, microbiomes, and neurochemistry, as well as within the “artificial” matter and synthetic entities of our own creation.          

            Staniek perceives evolution not as a harmonious process of refinement, but rather as a series of experiments, errors, and deformations. Within his practice, the organism is presented as an unstable system in a state of perpetual flux, susceptible to both external and internal influences. While the biomorphic forms of his sculptures may evoke the aesthetics of body horror, they do not concern the horror of the flesh so much as the realization that biology itself is inherently unsettling and radically creative. Consequently, Staniek’s work reflects on the development of life, understood as a ceaseless process of conditioned becoming.          

            — Łukasz Kropiowski