Grażyna Tarkowska
Częstochowa
Grażyna Tarkowska is a Polish painter who specialises in expressive, colourful paintings, with a focus on acrylic and oil on canvas.
Message
Rather than representing the visible world, Grażyna Tarkowska creates paintings that explore the invisible landscapes of human experience. Her work unfolds where memory, emotion and intuition intersect, allowing colour, texture and movement to become the primary carriers of meaning.
Working primarily with acrylic on canvas, Tarkowska develops layered compositions that balance intuitive gesture with thoughtful structure. Organic forms, subtle chromatic relationships and evolving surfaces create open visual fields that invite contemplation rather than immediate interpretation. Each painting becomes less an image than an experience, shaped through the encounter between the artwork and its viewer.
For Grażyna Tarkowska, abstraction is not simply an aesthetic choice but a way of thinking—a language through which experiences beyond words can be explored. Her practice is guided by an interest in the quiet tensions between presence and absence, order and spontaneity, permanence and change. Rather than offering fixed narratives, her paintings remain intentionally open, encouraging viewers to discover their own emotional and symbolic connections. By transforming painting into a dialogue rather than a statement, Grażyna Tarkowska creates spaces for contemplation, where meaning emerges gradually through attentive looking and personal experience.
Statement
During my university studies, the focus was almost exclusively on realistic painting—landscapes, still lifes, and traditional subjects. While I appreciated the technical discipline, I quickly realized that replicating the visible world didn’t truly inspire me. Instead, I was drawn to abstraction, where I could express a more personal, emotional reality.
For me, painting recognizable subjects—whether landscapes, animals, or portraits—is often just a starting point, an excuse to explore my own inner world. In this world, colors are liberated from realism. I’m captivated by bold, expressive hues and striking contrasts. The final composition emerges from the tension between color and form, arranged intuitively in space.
Viewers often tell me that my paintings lift their spirits. I believe these vibrant works reflect my vital energy and optimistic spirit. When I paint, I enter a state of deep focus, completely disconnected from the outside world. Afterward, I often feel physically drained, as if I’ve undergone intense exertion.
While I enjoy exploring many genres of painting in museums, the Fauvists have had the most profound influence on my work. I also deeply admire Wassily Kandinsky and Joan Miró, whose impact can be seen in some of my pieces.