F.O.C.U.S. Artwork

Monika Gardyla is a Polish-born, self-taught artist whose artwork bridges continents, cultures, and disciplines. Based between London and Itacaré—a small coastal town surrounded by the Atlantic rainforest in southern Bahia, Brazil where Monika decided to build her house and art studio. She draws constant inspiration from the contrasts in her environment: urban structure vs. wild nature, design vs. instinct, geometry vs. organic form. For the last few years, her artistic practice has focused primarily on collage, using vintage book covers as the foundation for bold, tactile compositions. Each piece is built from reclaimed materials: aged paper, found objects, and textures gathered from both cities and jungle landscapes. This hands-on process, deeply intuitive and unplanned, gives her work a raw energy and honesty that resonates with collectors and design lovers alike. In a recent project, Monika created 161 original collage works for the Kimpton Main Hotel in Frankfurt. Each piece was designed specifically for the guest rooms, giving the hotel a unique visual identity. This project combined her signature collage style with architectural sensitivity and scale—bringing handmade art into a curated hospitality experience. Monika also works with ceramics, wood, painting, and murals. Her use of materials is guided by curiosity, sustainability, and a desire to preserve the story behind every fragment. Her influences range from Polish poster design to Bauhaus geometry, to the natural chaos of the Brazilian forest. Monika’s work has been shown in galleries, featured in hospitality design projects, and collected internationally. What defines her art is not just visual impact, but the care and emotion embedded in each piece. Everything is handmade with intention, built slowly, with love, and shaped by a life lived creatively, across borders and beyond convention.