Rübezahl • Krakonoš • Liczyrzepa Etching, aquatint
It was such a pleasure to work on this piece at Grafikwerkstatt in Dresden. I was there as a resident artist for a month. Thanks to exchange program. I miss printmaking SO MUCH, and this etching gave me a lot of joy. Also it was created in so well-equipped workshop with talented printmakers. Rübezahl is a spirit of the mountains that is mentioned in polish, german and czech folktales. He lives in Karkonosze mountains. Polish name (Liczyrzepa) ethymology suggests that he is a person who counts the turnips and it is connected to one of MANY legends. In every language he has a lot of names, and all of them have separate story to tell. For the background I used Saxon Switzerland landscapes. I hiked in this mountains last year and they are breathtaking. Liczyrzepa/Karkonosz/Rübezahl is a wonderful piece of lowersilesian identity and a character that connects all three nations.
