stay forever more
Patryk Gizicki
Self-Published
English
Softcover
34 pages
150 × 210 mm
2026
Stay Forever More is a semi fictional, reflective journey into Patryk Gizicki’s childhood and adolescence, attempting to reconstruct and confront difficult memories. The project engages with themes of home, belonging and coming of age. His family left Poland due to financial instability there. They arrived in Ireland at the height of the ‘Celtic Tiger’, along with thousands of others in search of a better life. For most of his life, the idea of home has always had a bittersweet resonance. The title of the project comes from Green and Red of Mayo by The Saw Doctors, a song that is infamous in his Irish hometown, Castlebar. From a young age, that particular lyric has echoed in my mind as a reflection on emigration.
Settling in was a slow process for Gizicki, and he expresses this period of his life with images that explore in-between states. This is how he saw his hometown for a long time, a place of passing, a transitional home. He ended up never quite fitting in, but as time went on he found comfort in other people in similar situations. He left Castlebar five years ago, but now, coming back to the hometown that he thought he had to run away from, feels completely different. The inertia of a small town that he thought would drag him down now calls as living costs of Dublin mount, forcing many to leave.
(Source: www.patrykgizicki.com/stay-forver-more)
About the Artist
Patryk Gizicki, a 25-year-old photographer, born in Poland and immigrated to Ireland during his childhood. In 2023, he completed his Bachelors in photography at Technological University Dublin. Currently, Gizicki is dedicated to advancing his artistic vision through his ongoing Graduate Project, ‘Stay Forever More,’ a body of work that has received support from both The Arts Council Ireland and an artist residency from Photo Museum Ireland.
Gizicki’s photographic practice encapsulates a compelling blend of personal narrative and visual exploration. Rooted in his multicultural background, his work seeks to bridge the gap between his Polish heritage and Irish upbringing. With a keen eye for colour honed through his analog practice, Gizicki captures moments that reverberate with universal themes of personal experience, belonging, and the passage of time.
www.patrykgizicki.com
(Source: www.patrykgizicki.com/about)
