"Abaca II, 2019" Painting

Wioletta Kulewska Akyel is an artist working across painting, design and installation, often extending beyond the limitations of canvas and frame. Her work incorporates a mixture of mediterranean and pagan themes that bring the personal spheres of contemporary life into close proximity. Kulewska's work is informed by travels – journeys to the Baltic, Caucasus, North Atlantic and Eastern Mediterranean territories have resulted in encounters within the ancient world that have served at points of departure for the distinct narratives found in my extended body of work. Forms of peculiar souvenirs brought from these expeditions, such as small artefacts or elements of nature (feathers, shells, bones) can be found across the canvas. The image thus becomes a kind of afterimage of the objects, impressions and experiences gathered, with my artistic practice combining elements of research across philosophy, archaeology and anthropology. Kulewska is a graduate of Fine Arts from Opole High School of the Arts, Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design in Wrocław, Poland and London Metropolitan University. Since 2018, she has participated in a number of artist-in-residence programmes, including Slade School of Fine Arts, London, UK (2018); PADA, Lisbon, Portugal (2019); Pedvāle Open Air Art Museum, Latvia (2021); Skopelos Foundation for the Arts, Greece (2022); Hafnarborg Centre of Culture, Iceland (2022); Cyprus College of Art (2023), Cobertizo Mexico (2024).