In her collages 'Shadows Madly Alive I-V' Paulina Ołowska explores puppet theatre. The artist travelled to the Museo Internazionale delle Marionette in Palermo, Sicily, as well as the Institut International de la Marionnette in Charleville-Mézières in France to immerse herself in the topic more deeply. She also conducted research in Polish puppet theatre archives such as Teatr Groteska in Krakow, Teatr BAJ in Warsaw, Teatr Lalek Banialuka in Bielsko-Biała, as well as Cricoteka, the best-known of these archives. This archive catalogues work by the Polish artist Tadeusz Kantor, who was one of the great theatre pioneers of the last century.
In these small collages, you can discover a wide range of great puppeteers from the history of this magnificent narrative art. Spanish marionettist Herta Frankel is one such example. Along with Emmy Hennings, Margo Rose, Lotte Pritzel, and Maria Signorelli, Frankel is one of the most important female artists of the genre. In the 1960s, Frankel and her marionettes pioneered children's programmes on Spanish television. Paulina Ołowska often refers to forgotten female artists in her work.