Maja Michalska
She was born in 1994 and graduated from the University of the Arts Poznań, where she currently works as an assistant in the First Graphics Studio – Relief Printing. In 2019, she was awarded the Grand Prix in the artistic category for the best diploma at the University of the Arts Poznań in the Maria Dokowicz Competition. Her practice encompasses graphics, artists’ books, graphic novels, and artistic textiles. She often incorporates humour, hidden anecdotes, and wordplay to comment on contemporary social issues, generational change, and the influence of mass media.
TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND EAT IT
Technique: spatial composition with linocut and silkscreen elements
Exhibited at: Postcard from the Province, Group 404 exhibition / texts by M. Kurak, K. Piskorz / BWA Gallery, Zielona Góra
In this work, the artist attempts to capture the boundary between the sacred and the profane – between what is rejected and what continues to be revered. Through the simple gesture of protecting bread, the artist evokes the legacy of religious tradition, which – despite social change – still manifests itself in small, subtle acts of care and remembrance.
FIRST-HAND INFO FROM A FRIEND IN ZĄBKI
Technique: object, silkscreen, hand embroidery
Exhibited at: 7th National Art Competition Collage – Assemblage – Olkusz 2023, post-competition exhibition / BWA Gallery, Olkusz
The work addresses the flood of fake news that spread across the Polish internet following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The composition resembles a war banner inscribed with fabricated narratives. Its central motif, derived from traditional Russian embroidery, is the Sun Chariot – a symbol of the endless cycle of the sun’s journey, which, after sunset, travels through an underground river among the dead and malevolent spirits.
IDEALSTADT
Technique: silkscreen, object
Dimensions: 150×170 cm
Exhibited at: Unhomeliness exhibition / organized by ON/OFF Association / Subteria Gallery, Kraków
The work presents the outline of Neustadt Halle, one of the “ideal” cities of the former GDR, where streets were numbered rather than named. The monochromatic architecture, resulting from urban standardization and rapid housing development, suppressed the individuality of its residents. Today, the city faces depopulation, as inhabitants leave in search of work, better living conditions, and a lost sense of identity.
POLISH CUBE
Technique: silkscreen on concrete
Exhibited at: Unhomeliness exhibition / organized by ON/OFF Association / Subteria Gallery, Kraków
The Polish Cube – a concrete symbol of modernist functionality – has come to dominate the landscape of Polish rural areas and suburbs, often disrupting their local architectural character. Initially uniform and austere, these buildings were gradually “domesticated” by their inhabitants -through colorful facades or decorative mosaics made from broken plates, with varying aesthetic results.
The work filled cracks and gaps within the gallery space, creating site-specific interventions and entering into a dialogue with its surroundings – mirroring architectural processes on a smaller scale.
PYRA, RYCZKA, LACZKI: PRL IN POZNAŃ
Post-competition exhibition of the best diploma project at the Magdalena Abakanowicz University of the Arts in Poznań, awarded the Maria Dokowicz Prize (2019), presented at the Poznań International Fair (MTP), Poznań.
