Anna Helena Szymborska (b. 1982), "Elżbieta Zawacka," 2023

ink/paper
Dimensions: 42 x 29.5 cm
signed and dated p.d.: '2023 [artist's monogram]'
signed, dated and described on the reverse: 'ELIZABETH ZAWACKA | ANNA HELENA SZYMBORSKA | 2023'.

Biography
"From among the possible heroines to portray in the Herstory project, I chose the person of Elżbieta Zawacka, who actively defended Poland during World War II. Her story brought to my mind my grandmother, who was an activist in the Home Army and on her orders worked in the German office in Lomza, where she issued false documents. When I was a small child, she told me how she was warned by a German officer (her superior), about the planned execution of all the Polish employees of the office in the Giełczynski Forest, thanks to which she managed to escape at the last moment. She was pursued and forced into hiding until the end of the war. At the same time, she taught science, which was her occupation even after the war. However, my grandmother's story is not an exception against the background of both branches of my family, where for generations patriotic traditions were very much alive, and my grandmother was not the only Home Army activist among my ancestors.

With the portrait of Elżbieta Zawacka, I pay tribute to the memory of the portrayed herself, but also to all Poles who fought for the future of our country, risking their lives."