The painting depicts a fragment of a brick wall and a wooden construction resembling a ladder hanging from it. Fragments of the ladder are wrapped in cloth. The thick metal chain attached to the highest rung marks out the axis of the composition and also its central point. The entire image has been painted with photorealistic precision. The curious object is most likely a tool of torture and at the same time a stretcher for transporting a person bound with ropes and chains. Using painting means, the artist depicts suffering and pain without the image of the body in a non-literal, camouflaged, but also poignant way.

Michał Jachuła 

translated by Paulina Bożek