Bio
Joanna was born in Gubin, a Polish town on the borders of Germany. She started painting and drawing at the age of five, and with support of her parents and teachers, she developed her interest into art in school. She went to Art College in 1995 in Zielona Gora and after five years she gained a diploma from the faculty of painting as the best student in the class. In 2003, she went to study visual arts where she gained her MA degree in Fine Arts (specialising in portrait painting) in 2008.
Arriving 10 years ago in London from her native Poland, Joanna fell in love with the city immediately. Amazed and entranced by the many cultures and the vibrant life of the city, she took her sketchbook everywhere, indiscriminately and discreetly recording people on the streets, in parks, and cafes. Fleeting moments, everyday lives were rapidly captured in her sketchbooks, as she made her first responses to "being hit by the exciting lifestyle and different, interesting people from all over the world."
As she grew more settled in her new environment, Joanna began to paint oil portraits of new acquaintances and friends within the artist community of North London. In these paintings, the person is set within their surroundings, in a pub, a garden, or at their place of work, and always with a vibrant palette of colours.
Pilarczyk has exhibited widely in her native Poland, and since moving to the UK has continued to show her work in exhibitions at venues such as the Boomer Gallery, Candid Arts Trust, Autonomous Gallery, and Hive Dalston. She currently showcases her artwork at virtual solo exhibition 'Intimate Times' by Visionary Art Collective and she takes part in the international exhibition 'Intrinsic Nature' organised by The Curator's Salon.
Artist Statement
My paintings from my ‘Intimate Times’ series were created during time of isolation. In my colourfully decorated flat filled with plants, and isolated from family and friends, my surroundings and my partner became my only world, more intensely felt and observed than ever before. The results of these heightened observations are these paintings - the ordinary but touching intimate scenes of my everyday life enveloped by light, colour, patterns, and textures of my shared home-cum-studio--the other character in my paintings.
My recent artworks showcase ordinary moments from my life with my partner Jarek Radecki (also an artist) in the past year. Though the paintings depict us physically together in the same room and also alone, they reflect our mental state in the extraordinary situation that we all found ourselves in 2021. I never thought I would live so intensely and intimately with just one other person even though I think of him as my soulmate - this situation affected my hopes, dreams, and doubts. We were both so lucky to have each other, but also were unable to escape each other. We eventually found a way to be together and also be alone.
Much of my work at this time focuses on what I found in our relationship, sharing moments in quiet and enjoying simple pleasures of every day. To tell the story in my paintings, I use vibrant and clear colour palette, beautiful patterns and specific, usually central composition in each scene. I want the viewer to feel the sunlight from my pictures, to enjoy colour and the positive atmosphere. I would like to share a piece of my small intimate space where I can still find the inspiration.
