Wilderness Secrets is a series of oil paintings that explores the hidden life of the forest floor. Mosses and lichens — organisms growing quietly beneath our feet — often remain unnoticed, despite slowly overtaking fallen trunks, decaying branches, and the remnants of fauna and flora.

By isolating and enlarging these modest life forms, Wawrzyniuk reveals their astonishing complexity. What at first appears insignificant unfolds into a world of intricate structures, undulating silhouettes, and subtle chromatic shifts. The paintings move between attentive observation and painterly transformation, allowing organic forms to hover between recognition and abstraction.

Rooted in species found in the artist’s motherland, the series gradually departs from strict naturalism. Early works are grounded in earthy, subdued tones that echo the damp forest environment. In later paintings, however, colour becomes increasingly luminous and otherworldly. Greens intensify, backgrounds dissolve into deep blues or velvety darkness, and the forms begin to glow as if emerging from memory or dream rather than direct sight.

Rather than documenting botanical reality, Wilderness Secrets invites the viewer into an intimate encounter with the overlooked. It proposes a slower mode of looking — one that acknowledges the quiet persistence, resilience, and quiet drama of the smallest living structures.