QUEERCIRCLE: You’ve just completed your MA show at Goldsmiths. How did you find the process and what was the response?

Rafal: I did my degree part-time - so it was quite a long process (four years). I came in with a performative practice - but having access to such fantastic facilities with amazing sculpture tutors meant my work inevitably became more object based. Our degree show was the only one that happened this year - in a physical guise. We only heard about it happening 8 weeks before the “opening” - so it was a very mad time of working especially with Covid restrictions. I made the show in 6 weeks of non-stop grafting and felt absolutely exhausted by the end, but also very lucky to be able to share the works with people “in the flesh”.

QUEERCIRCLE: In your conversation with Mikolaj you discussed your leaving Poland for London. How has this affected and/or feature in your practice?

Rafal: My “moving away” from Poland has given away for a strange longing for it. Not the Poland of now with all its current political issues, but a Poland of the past that I have mythologised from childhood memories. As I mentioned in the chat with Mikolaj - I feel that our national identity is as much a building block to our practice as the sexual identity. Neither are at the forefront of my work, but they do resurface here and there naturally.

QUEERCIRCLE: In the past few months, the rise of the far right in Poland has resulted in the creation LGBTQ+ free zones. Do you feel a responsibility as an artist to be vocal about this? And if so, how does this feature in your work? Are you working or in contact with LGBTQ+ artists in Poland?

Rafal: Yes, of course I feel a responsibility. I am continually thinking about ways in which I can be vocal about these issues and be active in the fight against it. From my current position I try to share and inform people about the current situation there , but of course it’s frustrating that I am not there to have a more physical presence and to speak up about these issues. I’m in touch with some artists and curators in Poland - but as I haven’t gone through the education system there my immediate network is mostly in the UK. I would love to be able work more there – and have a few projects in the pipeline that will hopefully come into fruition soon.