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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

photo by Stefan Okołowicz


 
Copyright by Konrad Glos, Rafal Zub 2010