Hanna Ilczyszyn
Gallery
Vita
Hanna Ilczyszyn is a young Polish painter living between Poland and Belgium. She was an MFA student at KASK in Ghent, Belgium, and previously studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Wroclaw, Poland. She has exhibited her work in solo and group exhibitions in Taiwan, Japan, China, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Bulgaria, Spain, the Netherlands, Estonia, and Latvia, and her works have been acquired by collectors worldwide.
She is recognized as one of the One to Watch artists by Saatchi Art, a platform that highlights creators already gaining attention for their work. Her striking paintings and drawings capture the innocence and uncertainty of childhood, hovering between past and present. Recently, her works were featured on the renowned art blog The Jealous Curator.
Credo
Sometimes I feel as if I am floating between places, between past and present. Perhaps this is because I live abroad, constantly moving and going through changes. Time passes, and I become part of the new, yet at the same time, I am still not fully there.
I consider my work as an expression of these feelings: atmosphere, the "inner world." My inspiration mainly comes from all kinds of images that I transfer onto canvas or paper. Dreams also inspire me—they are like stories that unconsciously appear while we sleep and vanish when we wake. They are a type of memory that, for some reason, lingers in our minds. They are surreal, like life can sometimes be. Alternating. Expressed in all colors and landscapes. Perhaps this is why the visual aspect of my work is essential. Simply put: I like to create visually strong and accessible works.
Chance is another phenomenon that plays a role in my work, but it is a controlled one. I do not wait for inspiration; I paint continuously. Some canvases may be disappointing, but the next one might be better. I am guided more by my heart and soul than by my intellect while painting directly on a canvas. The more you paint, the more the process becomes "automatic," so you no longer need to think. Yet there is always something that escapes. This is what I enjoy about the creative process: you never really know what the final result will be. Ideas change, just like everything around us. Surrealism blends with reality-it is only a matter of perception.
Laudatio
Hanna Ilczyszyn’s paintings often depict predominantly female figures and portraits—but you have to look closely. Frequently, the figures are overpainted, or something moves in front of the person or face, obscuring what is intended to be shown. Perhaps this is a dramaturgical device, as in the painting Fire, where wild brushstrokes of flames hide the figure, or in Red Stripes, where arms, shoulders, and the face are covered with red stripes. In all cases, identifying the person is impossible.
This impression is further intensified in another work, where a person holds both hands to their face—perhaps holding a microphone, though it is unclear. The entire painting is overlaid with white linear markings resembling the lines of a fingerprint, whose forensic significance is well known. No two humans share the same fingerprint. Here, the artist contrasts the visible depiction of a person with the unique, machine-readable fingerprint. The white grid structure forms a cage, obstructing further engagement with the depicted figure. This is deliberately designed; the viewer’s perception oscillates between the white linear structure and the face behind it. When something is omitted or concealed, imagination immediately begins to fill the empty space with dreams.
Regarding her painting, the artist writes—echoing the theme of traveling inherent in the exhibition title: “Sometimes I feel as if I am between places, between past and present. Perhaps this is why I live abroad, experiencing moves and changes? Time passes, and I become part of the new, yet at the same time, I am still not there.” She also enjoys that in her process she never truly knows what the final result will be. Surreal elements blend with reality, much like how, during travel, expectations and ideas often mix with actual experiences.
Laudation by Reinhard Fritz, 1995–2011, President and Board Member of Neue Gruppe, BBK, Jury Member, Engagement & Exhibition Design at the Große Kunstausstellung,
Haus der Kunst, Munich.
Exhibitions
Awards / Grants
2018
2016
2012
2012
2012
STEP travel grant
Residency grant from European Capital of Culture, Wroclaw/San Sebastian
"Grote prijs Ernest Albert", Mechelen- jury's commendation
Gallery Mutu painting competition, Kraków, Poland- jury selection
"Prijzen van Harelbeke", Harelbeke- jury selection
"Residency"
2018
2018
2017
2016
2015
2015
2012
2nd International Plein Air VALDIS BUŠS, Mark Rothko Center, Vilaka, Latvia
Over-painted portraits, Residency at MoKS, Mooste, Estonia
Rainbow, Yiri Art Space, Taichung, Taiwan
A.I.R. San Sebastian DSS2016/A.I.R.WRO, European Capital of Culture, Spain
Ritual Art: Time and Space, The Old School residency, Gorna Lipnitsa village, Bulgaria
Residency at Da Wang Culture Highland in Shenzhen, China
WARP artist village- Contemporary Art Platform, C-mine, Genk, Belgium
Exhibitions
2019
2018
2017
2016
2016
2015
2015
2013
2008
The Other Art Fair Brooklyn, New York, US
Over-painted portraits, Kohvik, Mooste, Estonia
Rainbow, Yiri Art Space, Taichung, Taiwan
Where the wild roses grow, Barbé Gallery, Gent, Belgium
No one is looking at you, Sandhofer Gallery, Salzburg, Austria
LaLa Land, Yiri Arts Pier 2 gallery, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Forest people, Poco gallery, Wroclaw, Poland
We are all mad here -, Sonnentor Art Space, Yiri Arts, Taipei, Taiwan
Zamknieta przestrzen, City Gallery, Wrocław, Poland
Group Exhibitions
2019
2019
2019
2019
2018
2018
2018
2018
2018
2017
2017
2017
2017
2017
2016
2016
2016
2015
2015
2015
2014
2014
2014
2014
2014
2013
2012
2012
STORIES Frauen Power UNTERWEGS, Polish Exhibition Center Munich, Germany
Ongezien #4, Havenhuis, Antwerp, Belgium
Art TRUC TROC, BOZAR, Brussels, Belgium
Stories, Munchen, Germany
Art Taipei, Yiri Arts, Taipei, Taiwan
Expo in Nasty Alice Gallery, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Art Fair, Antwerp, Belgium
2nd International Plein Air VALDIS BUŠS, Vilaka, Daugavpils, Mark Rothko Center, Latvia
Animal farm, Free Art Fair, Taipei, Taiwan
Pierwsza Linia, ODA, Piotrkow Trybunalski, Poland
The Shining, Art Taipei, Yiri Arts Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
Les mauvaises herbes, Lavallée, Brussels, Belgium
Short stories Galerie Strzelski, Stuttgart, Germany
Nasty Women, Josilda de Conceicao Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Tabakalera, DSS2016, San Sebastian, Spain
Kunstbeurs, Leuven, Belgium
The inner side, Galerie Dessers, Leuven, Belgium
Serendipity, Galerie Dessers, Leuven, Belgium
May-Day Spring show at Jeffrey Meier gallery, Lambertville, NJ, US
Affordable Art Fair with Gelarie Arielle d'Hauterives, Brussels
Taipei Free Art Fair, with Yiri Arts, Taipei, Taiwan
Tokyo Art Book Fair, with Yiri Arts, Tokyo, Japan
Art Osaka art fair with Yiri Arts, Osaka, Japan
Découvertes printanières- group show, Galerie Arielle d'Hauterives, Brussels, Belgium
Art Apart Fair with Yiri Arts- Parkroyal on Pickering, Singapore
Art on Paper- art fair, White Hotel, Brussels, Belgium
Palac Stuki (Art Palace), Krakow, Poland - jury selection
Culture House in Mechelen- jury's commendation award, painting competition "Grote prijs Ernest Albert"- , Mechelen, Belgium
"Press/Texts"
2018
2017
2016
2016
2015
2014
2014
2014
2013
2013
2013
2013
Into the Void magazine, text + cover, issue 10
Projeto Curadoria
The Lucky Jotter
The Jealous Curator
Collect magazine; page 19; December
Bruzz studio visit
Idol Magazine; www.idolmag.co.uk; online magazine; text by Rosie Feenstra, May
Art Plus (Taiwan); December, nr. 26; page 46-47 + magazine cover; www.artmap.com.hk
Nu-Mode´ Magazine #9 "The Awakening" Autumn/Winter Edition 2013; page 14-15; by Latoya P. Henry
DDmagazine; www.ddmagazine.it, issue September
Tribe magazine; www.tribemagazine.org- issue 11; page 38-47; by Helen Moore
One to Watch, Saatchi Art