She graduated from the Faculty of Architecture of the Krakow
University of Technology (obtaining the diploma of an engineer architect)
and the Faculty of Stage Design at the ASP (Academy of
Fine Arts) in Krakow. Since 1975 she has been designing sets and
costumes for dramatic and musical theatre, opera, ballet, TV and
film. She made her début designing costumes for the performance
of Białe małżeństwo / Marriage Blanc directed by Kazimierz Braun
at the Teatr Współczesny in Wrocław (the same design was reapplied
at the Post Jefferson Theatre in New York, with her own stage
design). Stage design, treated as art, allowed her to complete interesting
architectural solutions in theatrical space, as opposed to
the drab reality of the Polish Peoples’ Republic. Ever since, theatre
has become the place where Zofia de Ines could put her original
ideas into practice, and fulfill her artistic visions, fantasies and creations.
Zofia de Ines’ oeuvre contains over two hundred productions.
Her select works for dramatic theatre (Stary Teatr, Teatr im. J. Słowackiego
in Krakow, Teatr Narodowy, Teatr Ateneum, Teatr Polski, Teatr
Powszechny in Warsaw, Teatr Polski and Teatr Współczesny in
Wrocław and Teatr Wybrzeże in Gdańsk) in collaboration with prominent
directors are the following: with Jerzy Jarocki – Samobójca (A
Suicide), Kasia z Heilbronnu, with Maciej Prus – works of Shakespeare:
Richard III, The Tempest, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Julius Ceasar,
Twelfth Night, King Lear and Kordian, Krzesła (Chairs) with Adam Hanuszkiewicz
– Mąż i żona / Man and Wife, Treny / Lamentations,
Fedra and Dekameron, with Mariusz Treliński – Adrianna Lecouvrer,
Lautrenamont – Sny / Dreams, with Krzysztof Zaleski – Skąpiec / The
Miser, Rewizor / The Inspector-General, with Kazimierz Braun – Białe
małżeństwo, Anna Livia, Operetka /Operetta, with Zofia Kalińska –
Nominate filliae and Wyprzedaż kobiet demonicznych /The Sale of
Demonic Women, with Leszek Mądzik – Antygona, Makbet (2010),
with Tomasz Konina – Idiota (2009), Panny z Wilka / Maidens of
Wilko (2009), Dama Kameliowa / The Lady of the Camellias (2010).
The selected designs of Zofia de Ines for opera include works in
such places as: Teatr Wielki in Warsaw, Teatr Wielki in Poznań, Opera
House in Krakow, with the directors Krzysztof Nazar – Król Ubu /
King Ubu, Czarna maska / Black mask, Dama Pikowa /Queen of Spades
(2008), with Marek Weiss-Grzesiński – Faust, with Beata Redo-
Dobber – Czarodziejski flet / The magic Flute and with Tomasz
Konina – Tankred.
Zofia de Ines’ selected ballet projects are: for the Polski Teatr
Tańca in Poznań with Ewa Wycichowska – Niebezpieczne związki /
Dangerous Liaisons, Przypadki pana von K; in the Silesia Opera
House with Henryk Konwiński – Romeo and Juliet (2009).
The selected projects for the puppet theatres are: in the Teatr Banialuka
in Bielsko-Biała, Teatr im. A. Smolki in Opole, in collaboration
with Julia Pawłowska – Alice in Wonderland (2008) and with
Paweł Aigner – Zielony Wędrowiec (A Green Wanderer) – the production
won the national award for the best performance for children
in 2008 and Miłość do trzech pomarańczy / The Love for Three
Oranges (2009).
Zofia de Ines worked, for many years, with the founder of the
Wrocław Mime Theatre, Henryk Tomaszewski. In Wrocław the following
performances were produced: Protesilas i Laodamia, Orpheus
and Eurydice.
The artist has also realized three of her original performances:
Idole perwersji / The Idols of Perversion – focusing on the creative
function of costume and its relation to gender (in cooperation with
Teatr Ekspresji, 1991), the second about the interrelation of the
costume and fashion – Między teatrem a haute couture/ Between
Theatre and Haute Couture (with the Polski Teatr Tańca, 1998) and
the metaphysical performance entitled Na krawędzi / On the Brink
(2006).
Moreover, in 1991 a film was made based on her original project
Idole perwersji and in 1994 a the film Sama przed lustrem / Alone in
front of the Mirror, which presents the profile of the artist and her
artistic achievement. In 2001 the biographical film Portret / A Portrait
was completed.
The principal elements of the artists’ work are the so called selfcreations
and formal measures concerning the way of dressing and
detecting the interrelations between them. They constitute the
mode of expression and of shaping personality through fashion.
Zofia de Ines has been presenting self-creations through shows, artistic
actions and photographs in cooperation with well-known photographers:
Tadeusz Paczula, Marek Gardulski (the exhibition Sesje
wieczorne, Krakow, 2004) and Stefan Okołowicz. Numerous photographs
by Stefan Okołowicz showing performances by Zofia de Ines
were presented at the exhibition Polka (A Polish Woman) staged at
the Centrum Sztuki Współczesnej / Modern Art Centre in Warsaw
in 2005. They were also published by the Instytut Teatralny in Warsaw
in the series Inna Scena / Another Stage, e.g. in the article by
Ewa Derda Zofia de Ines, Phantasms of Feminity (in the collective
work Ciało, płeć, pożądanie. Tożsamość seksualna i tożsamość płci
w polskim dramacie i teatrze / Body, Sex, Desire. The Sexual Identity
and The Identity of Sex in the Polish Drama and Theatre – 2008).
The artist had several solo exhibitions in Poland (Krakow, Wrocław,
Lublin, Sandomierz) – including the exhibition of stage and costume
design for the ballet and opera celebrating the 50th anniversary of
the Krakow Opera (2004) and abroad (Paris, Darmstadt). She also
took part in the group exhibitions including Quadriennale of Stage
Design in Prague (several times) and the exhibition Labirynt zwany
Teatr, O przestrzeni teatralnej / Labirynth called Theatre, On Theatrical
Space (BWA, Krakow, 1994). In 1995 she wrote an article on
costume to the catalogue of the Quadriennale exhibition.
Other areas of Zofia de Ines’ activity are drawing, posters and
writing on costume and fashion.
Currently, she is a lecturer on costume design at the International
School of Costume and Fashion Design in Warsaw (MSKiPU).
In stage design my main area of interest is neither the suggestion
of space nor its illusion but the construction of a “multiplied”
space – one that is more significant, larger and deeper than the actual
size of the stage may suggest. I am fascinated by a vast or – on
the contrary – by a claustrophobically narrowed, kinetic, variable
and mysterious space where even its substance is difficult to define.
In costume design the vital aspect is to find the personality and the
nature of a character so I always start from body and put emphasis
on its erotic aspect. I am most interested in construction and sculpting
of a costume. My thinking of set and costume design originates
in architecture. In this sense I am an architect.
Zofia de Ines
Warsaw, June 2010
More at
www.culture.pl/pl/culture/artykuly/os_ines_zofia_de
www.filmpolski.pl/fp/index.php/516368