Anna Cieśla was born in 1980. She graduated from the Art Institute of the Opole University. She specialises in traditional and computer graphic art, photography and graphic design.

The artist arranges her graphic compositions in the form of collages combining half-abstract figurative motifs, such as photographic portraits and fragments of cityscapes, obtained by means of distorting fragments of photographs, with various kinds of typographic motifs. Figurative elements surrounded with a textual “ornament” dominate a given composition and thus decide on its emotional overtone – either dramatic or lyrical. The author explores and exploits the expressive potential of typographic signs, text layouts or graphic symbols.

The iconographic sphere of her works is composed of two dichotomous areas. The first one, often personally meaningful, consists of images presenting characters and places, including portraits of close people and reminiscences of journeys. The second one is a mixture of signs symbolising civilisation and pop culture. As a result, portraits, either cheerful or tinged with sadness, and urban spaces filled with nostalgic windmills or sparkling balloons provide contrast to the language of typography associated with the noise of mass media, flashy signboards and the flood of words which makes them lose their meaning.

Anna Cieśla’s works present human identity in a world which constantly tries to change it by attacking us with “obligatory” trends and “appropriate” lifestyle.

 

Text by Lukasz Kropiowski

 

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