Katarzyna Gajewska

About the Artists:

Katarzyna Gajewska is an award-winning artist from Warsaw, Poland, and has been living in Ireland for several years. She received her education at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts, establishing herself as a profound painter with a focus on capturing the nuanced realities of the human condition. Growing up in an environment surrounded by paintings, poetry, and sculptures, Gajewska's decision to become an artist was a natural progression due to the influence of her parents' involvement in literature and the visual arts.

Gajewska's artistic approach is: ‘looking for human simplicity and complexity in the same way. I am trying to catch the casual feelings, naked and defenseless in their realism and then with understanding and patience I start to build portraits’. She aims to capture authentic and vulnerable emotions in her subjects. Her multi-layered paintings successfully convey the contradictory aspects of the self, blending romanticism with elements of brutality. Gajewska builds layers upon layers, often using her hands to manipulate the image until it encapsulates the intriguing in-between state she finds so fascinating.

In recent years, Gajewska has focused on painting portraits of notable figures including Loie Fuller, Anais Nin, Marcel Duchamp, Bettie Page, and Captain Spaulding. Her process involves ‘grouping together like minded souls, artists, popstars, sex goddesses, working around the idea of poets and outsiders, I am showing characters that I admire’. Gajewska infuses her portraits with energy, reminding viewers of the greatness that inspires her.

Gajewska's artwork has been widely exhibited, including solo exhibitions at Gallery Chimera and Gallery Le Madame in Warsaw, as well as Origin Gallery, Cavan Arts Office, Riverbank Arts Centre, Droichead Arts Centre, and Sol Art Gallery in Ireland. Her work has garnered recognition and can be found in collections such as the Office of Public Works (OPW).