In today’s fast evolving cultural landscape painting can be left aside in the quest for new frontiers in creative expression. Kate Mieczkowska has returned time and time again to the canvas to explore her world through figurative painting. She reflects upon her personal experiences, often involving close friends, family, and animals in her compositions to explore the complex emotions initiated in the contemporary world. Her understanding of anatomy of both human beings and animals means she can articulate form, proportion and movement. Drawing informs the early stages of her practice, but she prefers to work directly onto the canvas creating the paintings from a collection of sketches and found images, mostly personal photographs. Her recent experience within social and cultural sustainability is reflected in the paintings which question our relationship to nature, industry, technology and each other.
The subjects are ambiguous, surreal and with a sense of tension. Often viewers delight in their varying interpretations, seeing something different each time. Her influences include Peter Doig and Patrick Caulfield whose poetic combination of flat colour and photorealism has always fascinated her. Her early education exposed her to sculpture and allowed her to appreciate Louise Bourgeois, Mike Nelson and Joseph Beuys.
Painting for her personally allows her space to think, meditate and explore complex emotional responses to events in her life or in the wider global community.
She studied at both Winchester School of Art graduating with a First in Sculpture and from Chelsea College of Art in London where she was awarded a Master of Fine art in 2018.
‘Chicken and Chips on a Friday Night’ was listed in Timeout Magazine London as one of the top ten must see pieces in the 2022 Royal Academy Summer exhibition themed ‘Climate’ curated by Alison Wilding. She exhibited a painting again at the RA Summer exhibition in 2024.
‘The Perfume Seller’ was long listed for The John Moores prize in 2023. It formed part of her 26-painting solo show ‘Imagine’ at the Ahlam Gallery in Riyadh in 2022. In that exhibition she painted the changing cultural landscape of Saudi Arabia through the lens of relationships between the people and animals within the expanding urban environment. The paintings of native plants were highly admired and reshown during Ramadan the following year as part of ‘Senses and Spirituality’ curated by Amar Alamdar. Lulwah Al Hamoud artist and Ambassador for culture in Saudi Arabia admired the paintings on Instagram after her visit to the exhibition.
‘I won’t live in a world without Love’ and a portrait of the Rambert Dancer Robin Gladwin ‘Robin the Red’ put her on the long list for The Beep painting prize 2024. She was then assigned with painting replacement cover for the 7’’ single by Dean Martin ‘Only You/Its Late’. This highly original Open Call for an International painting biennale was so much fun to be involved in. The entry may not have made the short list but it was part of the show that went on tour in Wales.
‘Over the Pond’ included in the group show ‘Path’ at Venice Biennale 2024. It was a honour to be involved with this exhibition selected by Amy Goodman to reflect the artists concerns for social justice. The show considered how to reduce the carbon footprint using digital reproduction of selected paintings. It gave a much larger number of artists and opportunity to exhibit at The Biennale and raised awareness of social justice issues.
‘Art on a Postcard’ Auction contributor 2023 and 2024. This initiative invited well known and emerging talent to donate works to be auctioned off for The Hepatitis C charity. It was an honour to be asked.
In 2020 she created and curated a project called Goddess Now which broke boundaries by creating peaceful dialogues between women working towards a greater good from every continent in the world. It established arts as an integral part of ‘healing’ in our communities. Rayvenn D’Clark’s iconic ‘I don’t see in colour’ was our cover image before she become signed with the MT Art agency. The artists involved are all continuing to thrive and continue with their great work.
Kate has previously won the Ward Thomas Prize for Fine Art at The National Open Art Competition in 2016 in the UK and has work in notable private and public collections.