About
Artist Statement
CV
I am a Polish-American visual artist who works on interdisciplinary projects through social practice, as a cultural worker, using design, and in the studio.
My perspective and aesthetic is shaped by a childhood spent moving through different cultures, languages, and socio-economic realities. I was born in Łódź, a post-industrial city that was once the center of commercial textile production for the USSR. My family left Poland as political refugees in 1980, and moved frequently over the next decade, finding community in wild intellectual Polish diasporas (think basement art parties and accordion dance music). My identity, my work, and my interest in collective action is tied to this immigration experience, and to my family’s direct relationship to Poland’s Solidarity movement for workers’ rights. My interest in radicality and social change was further shaped by the history of San Francisco’s Bay Area, where I was based for almost 25 years.
I use textiles as my primary medium in the studio, and in public projects as a tool for communication. I often reference domestic textiles such as quilts and curtains in my work. These forms and materials are familiar and accessible, and can hold important personal histories, invoking feelings of home and community. I am inspired by women’s work and traditional craft processes. Frequently my work manifests as some combination of textiles and printing, be that digital or screen-printing, or combined in textile collages.
In addition to my art practice, I create patterns and illustrations as a surface designer. I also conduct art historical and academic research, and co-publish Feral Fabric Journal, an online scholarly journal that highlights radical textile production in art, activism, and countercultural movements.
Artist Statement
CV
I am a Polish-American visual artist who works on interdisciplinary projects through social practice, as a cultural worker, using design, and in the studio.
My perspective and aesthetic is shaped by a childhood spent moving through different cultures, languages, and socio-economic realities. I was born in Łódź, a post-industrial city that was once the center of commercial textile production for the USSR. My family left Poland as political refugees in 1980, and moved frequently over the next decade, finding community in wild intellectual Polish diasporas (think basement art parties and accordion dance music). My identity, my work, and my interest in collective action is tied to this immigration experience, and to my family’s direct relationship to Poland’s Solidarity movement for workers’ rights. My interest in radicality and social change was further shaped by the history of San Francisco’s Bay Area, where I was based for almost 25 years.
I use textiles as my primary medium in the studio, and in public projects as a tool for communication. I often reference domestic textiles such as quilts and curtains in my work. These forms and materials are familiar and accessible, and can hold important personal histories, invoking feelings of home and community. I am inspired by women’s work and traditional craft processes. Frequently my work manifests as some combination of textiles and printing, be that digital or screen-printing, or combined in textile collages.
In addition to my art practice, I create patterns and illustrations as a surface designer. I also conduct art historical and academic research, and co-publish Feral Fabric Journal, an online scholarly journal that highlights radical textile production in art, activism, and countercultural movements.