City's Ghosts (2024)Oil painting
by Eliza Kołodziej

This painting belongs to a series that emerged from a journey to another city. On my way to the train, I kept encountering pigeons — underfoot, flying just above my head, perched in front of the station, inside, and on the platforms. They were everywhere, yet almost invisible in their familiarity. These everyday birds, often dismissed as ‘city rats’, began to feel to me like quiet spirits — ever-present, moving through our world as if slightly apart from it.

They reminded me of „kodama” — the Japanese forest spirits said to live unseen among humans. The pigeons seemed to exist in a similar state, living both among us and above us, unaffected by our presence. As I travelled, I began to notice them more consciously; spotting them became a kind of ritual, a small game that drew me closer to them.

In this work, the bird no longer hides in the background. It stands in the centre of attention, surrounded by structures and air, shifting from something ordinary to something almost symbolic. Painting this series was both a quiet observation and a study of empathy — a way to look at what we usually overlook and see meaning in what is always around us.

The painting is ready to hang and will be delivered in secure, multi-layered packaging, fully tracked and insured to the full value of the artwork. Each work comes with a hand-signed Certificate of Authenticity, confirming its originality.

Materials used:

Oil paint on canvas

Details:

• Oil painting on Canvas
• One of a kind artwork
• Size: 33 x 46 x 4cm
• Ready to hang
• Signed certificate of authenticity
• Style: Expressive and gestural
• Subject: Architecture and cityscapes

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