The roots of Malgorzata Zurakowska's art reach back to Poland, the country where she was born and raised and where she began her work. In 1980, she received her M.F.A. from the Krakow Academy of Fine Arts. Though in recent years she has made her way over the Atlantic -- she moved to Canada in 1988 and now resides in the Boston area — Zurakowska's work reflects a tradition begun in the Middle East and spread throughout Europe at a time very different from our own: the art of the Mezzotint.

What is a Mezzotint?

Invented in Hessia in 1642 by Ludvig Von Siegen and further developed by Prince Rupert of the Palatinate, mezzotint was at that time almost exclusively used as a medium for portraits. Later, in the last decade of the 17th Century, mezzotint was also introduced in England. Schools of this difficult technique flourished all over England and Holland. Mezzotint reached the peak of its popularity in the 18th Century and then started to fade away after lithography's invention at the end of the 18th Century. Zurakowska is among a handful of internationally recognized artists continuing the tradition of mezzotint, now used for original art, not reproductions. And she truly savors every moment of the creation. Said Zurakowska: "Mezzotint is the perfect medium for me, because it is such a long, involved process. You are connected very closely to the printmaking plate for at least 100 hours before you even start to make your image."

The symbol of light has occupied philosophers from Plato to Jung for centuries, and it now fills the prints of Zurakowska. In the most esoteric philosophies, spirituality has always been conveyed through the symbol of light. In the visual arts, light often represents what is divine and supernatural, and is meant to juxtapose the earthly reality, as in the works of Rembrandt and El Greco. Zurakowska's main interest in visual expression is the dialectic opposition and the utter drama of light and darkness.

Zurakowska belongs to the tradition of Ars Sacra, touching on notions involved in the search for the Great Mystery, as she strives to define and express the relationship between man and God. She is intellectually stimulated by such great mystics as Teilhard de Chardin and Thomas Merton.

Zurakowska responded to Chardin's idea that the universe is a synthesis of that which is personal and that which is cosmic, and to his conception of the evolution of consciousness. Chardin spoke of an evolution from the atom through states of increasing complexity, to ultimate consciousness -- that of God. Zurakowska attempts to express energy, which gives the primordial impulse to a process of becoming. In some works, minute particles appear as almost imperceptible signs, or more defined forms, put into motion by a self-perpetuating energy. The movement in her works is often a spiraling one, moving in a vertical direction. And from deep darkness, light emerges, independent and radiating outward.

n The work of Zurakowska, as well as the work of internationally acclaimed Finnish printmaker Antii Salokannel, will be featured in the Hampden Gallery exhibit The Art of the Mezzotint: Two Contemporary Masters. The exhibit opens Thursday, November 16 with a reception from 4 to 6pm. The Art of the Mezzotint will be on display through December 14. For more information, contact Hampden Gallery at 413-545-0680.