Magda Trzaski Floating Away Paperclay, wire and acrylics Magda Trzaski’s casts of animal-inspired characters are enclosed under glass in forestalled activity, as strange and newfound specimens might have been in the Victorian era. Balloons float in mid-air as tiny sculptures of gangly limbed and cracked-skinned creatures balance in limbo of attempted escape and despair.  There is a looming sense of life floating away, contained momentarily within the shadow box. The intricate figures highlight the dark undertones in Trzaski’s work, which is heavily influenced by Dutch Vanitas painters, whose aim was to remind us of the inevitability of death, and the transience and vanity of earthly achievements and pleasures.