 |
© Paweł Rakowski
|
Monika
Walendziak (1986), painter and photographer.
After
graduating from the Wojciech Gerson School of Fine Arts and
earning
her
MA in History
of Art
from Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw, she
pursued
further
education in philosophy and religious studies, focusing
both
theoretically and practically,
on
the
existential
dimensions of creativity and
the
role
of
artistic practice in spiritual exploration.
Her
works
have
been
displayed
in
solo and
group exhibitions in the United Kingdom, Poland, Ukraine and Denmark,
and are
part of
private collections across
Europe and beyond. Since 2017 she has worked
regularly
in Copenhagen,
where
she has been
responsible
for the design and execution of the chapel and wall paintings at
Sankt Augustins Kirke.
She
explores
themes
of
mutability, the dynamics of growth and decay of structures, expansion
and decline,
transformation, and interconnectedness in both
the external world and the inner experience
of an embodied being. A special
focus
of
her practice is the metaphor of the garden, which serves
as
a
space
for
the
confrontation
between man and nature, freedom and determinism.
Inspired
by the idea of the radical materiality of art – that
experiencing
the matter is experiencing everything - she
places
great emphasis on
the
tactile
aspect
of her paintings, experimenting with binders and dry pigments. The
accumulation of primers mixed with sand, debris, and
dry
vegetal and animal remains, covered with transparent luminous
colours, forms
stratified structures
reminiscent
of archaeological and geological
layers,
offering insight into the delicate dynamics of
circulating matter.
By
treating
geometric forms as a universal and elemental language of visual
imagination, she seeks to invite meditative reflection on the
instability of the material world, and mutually interwoven and
interactive layers of transformed erotic energies.
She lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Represented by: Ikikata.Art Gallery
1999-2003 Wojciech Gerson School of Fine Arts
[Ogólnokształcąca Szkoła Sztuk Pięknych, Zespół Państwowych Szkół Plastycznych
im. Wojciecha Gersona], Warsaw, Poland
2005-2010 History of Art, Master’s Degree,
Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University, Warsaw, Poland
2010-2013 Philosophy & Theology, Pontifical Faculty of Theology Collegium Bobolanum, Warsaw, Poland
2009-2013 Byzantine Iconography,
College of the Christian East [Studium Chrześcijańskiego Wschodu], Warsaw,
Poland
SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
2024:
‘for the love and out of hatred for dying’, Ikikata.Art Gallery, Podkowa Leśna, Poland
2022:
‘Does the Garden have to be destroyed?’ Kirketorvet, Aarhus, Denmark
2018:
'Garden | Ogród', Matulka Gallery, Milanówek, Poland
2014:
'Matter and Light', The Meditatio Centre, London, UK
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
2024:
The Society of Scottish 126th Annual Exhibition, The Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, UK
Art Market Budapest: Ikikata Art Gallery, Millenaris, Budapest, Hungary
'ODPADY / WASTE', Ikikata Art Gallery, Podkowa Leśna, Poland
'Now & Then' Visual Arts Scotland Centenary Show Part Two, Dalkeith Palace, Scotland, UK
MoBU International Art Fair of Bucharest: Ikikata Art Gallery, RomExpo Central Pavilion, Bucharest, Romania
2023:
20th Warsaw Art Fair: Ikikata.Art Gallery, EXPO XXI, Warsaw, Poland
The Society of Scottish Artists 125th Annual Exhibition, Maclaurin Art Gallery, Rozelle Estate, Ayr, Scotland, UK
Warsaw ArtShow, Fabryka Norblina, Warsaw, Poland
'IS IT STILL (A) LIFE?', Ikikata Gallery, Podkowa Leśna, Poland
2022:
The Society of Scottish Artists 130 Years | Annual Exhibition, The Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, UK
19th Warsaw Art Fair: Ikikata.Art Gallery, EXPO XXI, Warsaw, Poland
'Kolonia artystyczna Podkowa Leśna', Centrum Kultury i Inicjatyw Obywatelskich - Pałacyk Kasyno, Podkowa Leśna, Poland
2020:
'Beyond the Surface', Ikikata Art Gallery, Podkowa Leśna, Poland
2019:
'Zamlynnia', The Palace of Art, Lviv, Ukraine'Zamlynnia', Volhynian Museum of Icons, Lutsk, Ukraine
2018:
'Mass of the Night River', St Matthew's Church of Scotland, Perth, UK
2017:
'Darkroom Tales', Ice Factory, Perth, UK
'Nature', University of Edinburgh, UK
'Torah in Byzantine Iconography'
- Art Gallery, Lutsk, Ukraine
Exhibition following the 7th
International Meeting of Iconographers, Zamlynnia, Ukraine
2016:
Democratic Camera Club Exhibition 'Ideas of Beauty', Summerhall, Edinburgh, UK
‘Peacemakers’:
- Regional Museum, Kovel, Ukraine
- Dubno Castle, Ukraine
- Regional Museum, Kremenets, Ukraine
- R_z Gallery, Rzeszów, Poland
- KIK,
Warsaw, Poland
- Debiut Gallery, Gdynia, Poland
‘Sacred Art in Volynia’, B.Biegas
Gallery, Ciechanów, Poland
2015:
‘Peacemakers’:
- Andrey Sheptytsky National Museum,
Lviv, Ukraine
- Art Gallery, Lutsk, Ukraine
Exhibition following the 5th
International Meeting of Iconographers, Zamlynnia, Ukraine
College of the Christian
East Annual Exhibition, St Joseph's Dominican Monastery, Warsaw, Poland
2014:
'The Sacred Face', St John's
Church, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
2012:
College of the Christian East
Annual Exhibition, St Joseph's Dominican Monastery, Warsaw, Poland
2011:
College of the Christian East
Annual Exhibition, St Joseph's Dominican Monastery, Warsaw, Poland
2010:
College of the Christian
East Annual Exhibition, St Joseph's Dominican Monastery, Warsaw, Poland
PUBLIC COMMISSIONS:
2020 - Ongoing
'Anastasis' Chapel, Sankt Augustins Kirke, Copenhagen, Denmark
2020:
Murals for Sankt Augustins Kirke, Copenhagen, Denmark
2019:
Icon for St Mary's RC Church, Inverness, Scotland, UKWall paintings for Sankt Augustins Kirke, Copenhagen, Denmark
2018:
Icons for Sankt Augustins Kirke, Copenhagen, Denmark
2015:
Icon for St Mary's RC Cathedral, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK
2017: the 7th International Meeting of Iconographers, Zamlynnia, Ukraine, organised by:
Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Lutsk, National Association of Ukrainian
Artists, Department of Ukrainian Studies of the University of Warsaw, Lviv National
Academy of Arts, Association of Polish Artists and Designers
2015: the 5th International Meeting of Iconographers, Zamlynnia, Ukraine, organised by:
Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Lutsk, National Association of Ukrainian
Artists, Department of Ukrainian Studies of the University of Warsaw, Lviv National
Academy of Arts, Association of Polish Artists and Designers
