System of connections

The painting “System of Connections” by Magdalena Nowatkowska is the most complex and rhythmically composed work within the cycle “Limits.” Unlike earlier minimalist compositions, here the artist expands the visual language and introduces a multi-element structure, reminiscent of both a neural network and technical diagrams or architectural plans. The title—”System of Connections”—becomes both a literal and metaphorical key to interpretation.

The composition is built on repeating modules—organic shapes that echo the simplified figures from earlier works in the cycle: rounded heads, rectangular “bodies,” dark oval “eyes” or focal points. Each of these forms is either connected or separated by a line—white, precisely drawn against the black background—creating a labyrinth of structures, directions, and relationships. These lines are sometimes straight, sometimes broken, sometimes softly flowing—as if to express different kinds of dependencies: logical, emotional, social.

“System of Connections” can be read as a metaphor for contemporary existence—a world in which the individual exists only in relation to others, where limits are not just boundaries that mark space, but also points of contact, transmitters of information and emotion. The artist poses the question: are we truly independent beings, or merely elements of a network? Are our limits really our own?

Magdalena Nowatkowska does not pass judgment on this phenomenon—she observes and records it with the precision of a cartographer. Her painting is a map of hidden interdependencies, but also an invitation to ask: where are we in all of this?