Her work was recognised from the start. In 1999, upon finishing high school, she received an award for the best graduation project in the field of glass art. It was an installation entitled Dreams and created with the use of glass and a bed frame.
Then her work could be seen at the Glass of the Young 2003 and ProDeco 2004 exhibitions, where she was among the winners.
However, the first major success of the artist, as she herself admits, was the selection of her works for the Talents Show 2005 exhibition held during the Ambiente Lifestyle fair in Frankfurt. The artist said in an interview with Culture.pl:
For me, this was my first achievement, after which I started believing in myself. During the exhibition, I came across a different concept of design from the one I had known before. You could say that I started thinking outside the box.
In the same year, her university graduation project did not pass unnoticed either. The works of Magdalena Trzcionka were selected by the Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław for the exhibition contest for the Polish President’s Award for Best Diploma Work in Higher Education in the Field of Fine Arts and Design.
Another significant success was the prize of the marshal of Silesian voivodeship in 2005. It was particularly important for the artist because, as she said in an interview with culture.pl, she feels connected to Silesia.
Lately, I've been wondering what Polish souvenirs look like and I regret to admit that they have ceased to exist. Local products from Kashubia or Zakopane come from China. If someone tries to invent something original linked to a given region, it is very difficult for him to break through, or he is knocked out by the price. I am thinking of a series of design projects that could become souvenirs from places in Silesia that no longer exist, such as the Grodziec mine, which was visited by Wisława Szymborska, for example.
The emphasis on local culture is an important part of her work. You can find it in the vases or centrepieces created for the Silesia cycle, as well as in her jewellery. The artist created a series of glass earrings with floral motifs, which she called A Tribute to Silesian Porcelain. The works of Magdalena Trzcionka were also presented in Zmiękczalnia Gallery in Zabrze during the first design exhibition in Poland inspired by Silesian industrial tradition. Under the slogan ‘Heavy industry, light design’, works by designers and design groups from Silesia and inspired by the region were collected. Trzcionka’s works were also presented at the display Design Layers – Exhibition of Designers from Silesia as deeply rooted in the realities of Silesia and inspired by Silesian culture.
The curators of the Unpolished – Young Design from Poland exhibition, Agnieszka Jacobson-Cielecka and Paul Dam, highlight Trzcionka's fascination with material and manufacturing technology. The artist agrees with this definition:
The material which inspires me and stimulates my creativity is glass. I have gradually discovered that what appeals the most to me is the process of designing functional forms. I am intrigued by the creative process itself, coming up with new shapes, looking for ways to challenge best practices, surprising myself and others with an unconventional approach. From time to time something catches my attention, leaving only a basic idea, the emotions that linked me to this phenomenon; sometimes this is the power of the material, the desire to give it new values.
Selected exhibitions:
1999
2003
- Glass of the Young – Ceramics and Glass Gallery, Wrocław
2004
- Design of the Young – ASP Museum, Wrocław
- Glass otherwise... – Odeon Gallery in Czeladź
- Diploma 2004 – BWA Design, Wrocław
- Industrial Design Exhibition – Huta Szkła, Krosno
- Post-competition exhibition ProDeco 2004 – Warsaw
2005
- Talents – International Young Designers – Frankfurt am Main
- H.O.M.E.-DEPOT – Vienna
- Design of the Young – Industrial Design Institute, Warsaw
- Light objects Night Moths – an exhibition as part of the scholarship of the Marshal of the Silesian Voivodeship, GOK Gródków
- Attention! Glass of the young 2005 – Studio BWA, Wrocław
2006
- 100% Glass 2006 – AlmiArt Gallery, Katowice
- Exhibition of the beneficiaries of the project Jobs in the Cultural Sector 2006 –Sheraton hotel, Kraków
2007
- Collective exhibition in Wyspiański Theatre – Zakopane
- Collective exhibition Available Art – Vienna
2008
- Fireproof beings – Sielecki Castle, Sosnowiec
- Designmart – IFCC, New York
- Designer Glass Competition Bombay Sapphir – Industrial Design Institute, Warsaw
- Make me – post-competition exhibition – II International Design Festival, Łódz 2008
- Designmart – 100 % Design, Tokyo
2009
- Designer 3d Professionals, Cologne
- DMY Berlin Youngsters exhibition – Berlin
- The Natural Resources of Polish Design – Regional Museum, Stalowa Wola
- Design September – Un-polished exhibition, Pierre Bergé & Associés, Brussels
Author: Katarzyna Zacharska, June 2013, transl. Bozhana Nikolova