Stara Kopalnia 2024

My Planeta Pana Misia is a world I created out of a deep heart's need, a place to escape from a reality that can be deeply frustrating. I do not understand mathematics, linear time, or money. But on my Planet, I am the Demiurge. I establish my own rules, and I bring my heroes to life—heroes who, in my dreams, turn to me and call me "Father."

After the travels of my art through Wałbrzych, Strzegom, Prague, Warsaw, and Kraków, it was time for one of the most symbolic milestones—a grand homecoming showcase in my native city, inside the colossal post-industrial halls of Stara Kopalnia.

Staging this survey inside the former "Julia" coal mine was not a conventional art exhibition. It was a profound closing of a life circle, a tribute to the memory of my grandfather Stefan, who was a miner. It was his late-night tales of the "damned" (potępieńcy) and the brutal, subterranean toil beneath the earth that planted the very first seeds of dread and mroczna estetyka in my mind.

On my Planet, the color black does not signify sadness—it is an absolute homage to coal, to the earth, and to my grandfather's hard labor, of which I am immensely proud. Fusing my scorched, linden wood carvings with the raw, industrial concrete walls of the mine brought out their primal, almost cavernous power.

The densest and most visually aggressive focal point of the Wałbrzych exhibition was a highly specialized layout presenting my monumental *Apocalypse* cycle—my true magnum opus, developed over two years since 2021, prompted by my brother Maciej.

The cycle depicts a raw post-nuclear epilogue of mankind:

• Humans in Caves: The tiny remnants of humanity forced to retreat and survive in subterranean caverns, which aligned perfectly with the raw, heavy masonry of the mine walls.

• The Two-Front War: The survivors wage a desperate campaign against two ruthless forces. The first is the Złe Cyborgi (Evil Cyborgs & Robots)—mechanical executioners deployed by a hostile AGI to fully exterminate mankind via "Machiny Śmierci" (Death Machines). The second is the eternal "Zły Duch" (The Evil Spirit) set against a burning Nuclear Mushroom, flanked by his demons, mutants, and horrific creatures.

Every character possesses a distinct name, a handwritten biographical passport, and a heavy, distorted facial grimace expressing pure pain, anger, and the will to fight.

Behind the heavy logistics, the funding, and the physical architecture of the Stara Kopalnia survey stood my older brother, Maciej. Maciej guards my interests, coordinates my materials, and serves as my absolute guide to the outside world. He often jokes that he acts as a benevolent "AGI" for me—solving complex systemic problems I don't even know exist.

My creations are pure intuition, a raw "work of the heart" (dzieło serca), and Maciej acts as the external processor, assembling these chaotic, brilliant puzzle pieces into a unified, lasting story.

During the opening and the subsequent weeks, we witnessed staggering human reactions. My carvings and drawings, though populated by monsters and scorched contours, carry a deep, fragile sensitivity to harm, rejection, and exclusion—wounds I have intimately experienced in my own life. These are not monsters; they are the victims of the real world's monsters.

In my universe, tragedy merges with a sharp, joyful playfulness. This synthesis triggered a profound sense of *catharsis* in Stara Kopalnia. Total strangers, submerging themselves into the dense atmosphere of Planeta Pana Misia, wept over the tragic fates of my characters, only to laugh and rejoice moments later. Witnessing this face-to-face was the absolute proof that Art Brut has a massive, healing power.

This homecoming exhibition ugruntowała the position of Planeta Pana Misia as one of Poland's most compelling paracosms. From the dark mining underground and the scent of burnt linden in the backyard atelier, my citizens have marched onward—ready to conquer the premier art galleries of Europe.