Sanctuary Painting

Born in Poland, I was raised in France where I studied Art at University. I also lived in the U.K for many years before leaving for Dubai. My subject and mood drive my choice of medium when painting: acrylics, ink, charcoal or watercolour. My works tend to capture a moment in time, a place, a feeling or a memory. It also reflects the relationship I have with myself, others and my surroundings. A theme central to my work is the idea of perception which is very personal to myself, as perception is heavily influenced by our expectations, experiences and moods. How I feel affects what I see and as a consequence what and how I paint. For instance, when creating my Secret Garden' s series, I used bright and unusual colours. • This was a way to force the viewer to look better and rediscover places differently. It's a call to open up, become more aware of our environment. How do we interpret our surroundings? Especially in a lockdown situation, I wanted to make what is around us more visible, more blissful, to keep us positive and hopeful regarding the future. Sit back and smell the roses. Stop worrying and take one day at a time. Nature is often taken for granted and we don't see it anymore when life is hectic. Here is a time where we can observe, enjoy simple things , rest and reset. • Furthermore, the idea of secret gardens is also connected to our dreams, our creativity and to the hidden sides of our psyche. it's the place of our inhibitions and secrets, a personal landscape that we all have. This lockdown is also a good time to look inside and get closer to our inner selves. • Finally, this painting can be seen as an hymn to my own feminity as a female painter.