Golden Trace – MA Art & Design Showcase at Hat Works

Hat Works, Luton
Exhibition open: 18–20 & 25–27 June 2025
Meet the Artist Drop-in: Thursday 19 June, 11am–2pm

We’re proud to present Golden Trace, a sculptural installation by Agnieszka Małgorzata Kowalczyk, graduating MA Art & Design student from the University of Bedfordshire.

Kowalczyk’s work is rooted in a deep fascination with the natural world — its textures, rhythms, and quiet mysteries. Her practice involves transforming found organic materials like bark, branches and moss through careful layering with wax, gelatine, and gold leaf. These tactile compositions explore the tension between the raw and the refined, the natural and the crafted.

Golden Trace invites visitors to reflect on their sensory relationship with the environment. The use of gold speaks to what is sacred, timeless and endangered — a subtle tribute to nature as a precious and overlooked resource. Suspended forms and intimate sculptures encourage quiet observation, evoking ideas of memory, transformation, and ecological fragility.

This exhibition marks the beginning of a wider collaboration between the School of Arts and Creative Industries at the University of Bedfordshire and The Culture Trust Luton, offering new pathways for emerging artists to share their work publicly.

Come meet the artist on Thursday 19 June between 11am and 2pm — no need to book, just drop in.