Izabela Żółcińska (b.1975) is a Polish-born artist living in Norway. She holds an MA in Visual Arts Painting and an MA in Arts Education and Promotion both from Fine Art Academy in Poznań, Poland.
Through her practice, Żółcińska seeks to understand human physicality as a liquid structure that is connected to the wider ecosystem. She is inspired by the aesthetic and function of biological transportation network systems and often works with the phenomena of fluid migration. Informed by research and cross-disciplinary collaborations, she explores anatomy, architecture, cognitive science, fluid mechanics and hydrobiology. She employs a variety of mediums and works both with studio-based practice and projects in public space - where her works transform the micro into macro scale.
Selected exhibitions include Vestfold Kunstsenter, Tønsberg, NO - The Drifting State LAB, 2020, Ronneby Kunsthall, SE- Hydroanatomy, 2019, Science Gallery, London, GB - Blood: Life Uncut, and Science Gallery in Melbourne, AU - Blood: Attract & Repel, 2017, 13 Muz Gallery, Szczecin, PL - Oksydan, 2016, 0047 Gallery in Oslo, NO - Høyblokka Revisited, 2014, The Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, PL - The Capillary Phenomena, 2010, Museum of Contemporary Art, Radom, PL - Random in Radom, 2007.
Large-scale public artworks include 58°27′20″N 8°48′14″Ø and The Red List of Protected Species painting project on Tromøya island, NO, The Navel string - a weaving plant installation on Kjerringøy, NO, The Glomma/ The Bodies of Rivers cycle - water cut hydro data installation at Tynset Videregående skole, NO and The Wall of Warmth/ The Capillary Phenomena cycle - a temporary neon installation on the tenement in the centre of Warsaw, PL.
Currently, Żółcińska is working on a new project inspired by local water resources and microplankton (particularly microalgae from the Dinobryon family). She is extending her drawing cycle work The Red List of Threatened Species (Schola kungsbackae 2021), dedicated to endangered modernist architecture and the sustainable context of currently built architecture (Roligheden schola 2020).
Żółcińska is represented in public collections including KORO (Public Art Agency Norway), NO, and Region Kronoberg, SE, as well as in private collections such as: In Situ Contemporary Art Foundation, PL, Grażyna Kulczyk, PL/CH, and Marek Maria Pienkowski Foundation, USA. She has been awarded scholarships by Arts Council Norway, Nordic Culture Point, The Association of Norwegian Visual Artists, and the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage in Poland.
CV
EDUCATION
1999 – 2002 Academy of Fine Arts in Poznan, Poland,
The Painting, Graphics, and Sculpture Department. Master of Arts in the discipline: Painting.
1997 – 2001 Academy of Fine Arts in Poznan, Poland,
The Art Education Department, Master of Arts in the discipline: Art Education and Promotion.
INDIVIDUAL EXHIBITIONS (selected)
2024 The Weeping Station, Vestfold Kunstsenter, Tønsberg, NO
2021 The Red List of Home Structures, Buskerud Kunstsenter & Globus Festivalen, Drammen; NO
2020 The Drifting State LAB, Vestfold Kunstsenter, Tønsberg, NO
2019 Myopia, Muzalewska Gallery, Poznan, PL
2018 Hydroanatomy, Ronneby Kunsthall, Ronneby, SE
2017 The Skin, Wozownia Gallery, Torun, PL
2015 The Red List of Threatened Species, Teatergalleriet, Kalmar, SE
2014 The Bodies of Rivers/ The Glomma, Nord Østerdal High School, Tynset, NO
2014 Oslo Open, Oslo, NO
2012 The Bodies of Rivers/ The Oder, Contemporary Art Gallery, Opole, PL
2012 Biophilia, Muzalewska Gallery, Poznan, PL
2011 Capillary Phenomena, Exit Prize 2010, Promocyjna Gallery, Warsaw, PL
2010 Capillary Phenomena/ The Water Tank, Ujazdowski Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, PL
2010 Capillary Phenomena/ Where the Capillaries Live, Sadowa 10, Jablonna, PL
2009 Capillary Drawings, Simonis Gallery, Warsaw, PL
2008 Plus - Minus/ REM Phase, Ego Gallery, Poznan, PL
2008 Plus-minus, Pienkow Art Gallery, Knoxville, USA
2007 Plus - Minus/ REM Phase, Ujazdowski Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, PL
2007 Plus - Minus/Omnia Vidit, The Centre of Polish Sculpture, Oronsko, PL
2006 Capillary Drawings: The Eye, Sadowa 10, Jablonna, PL
2002 Remoteness, U Jezuitow Gallery, Poznan, PL
2002 Humanized Room, Rotunda Gallery, Poznan, PL
2002 Plus – Minus, Aula Gallery, Poznan, PL
2001 A Contemporary Dream book, Fine Arts Academy, Poznan, PL
COLLECTIVE EXHIBITIONS (selected)
2022 Let them Weave! Contemporary Polish Sewn Sculpture, Studio Cannaregio, Venezia, IT
2021 The Red List of Threatened Species/ Alleskolan: Urban Garden Day, Kungsback, SE
2020 You’re probably wondering why I’m here, Hå Gamle Prestegard, Nærbø, NO
2019 Stipendutstilling, Buskerud Kultursenter, Drammen, NO
2019 Her og Der Prosjekt, Oslo Open, NO
2018 Kjerringøy Land Art Biennale, K Lab, Kjerringøy, NO
2017 Blood: Life Uncut, SG Gallery, London, GB
2017 Blood: Attract & Repel, SG Gallery, Melbourne, AU
2017 Body Language, Berlin Blue Gallery, Berlin, D
2017 Body Language, CCA Solvay, Krakow, PL
2016 inSPIRACJE International Festival, Szczecin, PL
2014 Høyblokka Revisited/ The Red List of Threatened Species, 0047 Gallery, Oslo, NO
2014 The Corporal Continuum, Wozownia Gallery, Torun, PL
2014 The Corporal Continuum,13 Muz Gallery, Szczecin, PL
2014 Logographers, The Contemporary Art Gallery, Opole, PL
2014 Imprint - Kulisiewicz International Graphic Arts Triennial, Sinfonia Varsovia, Warsaw, PL
2013 Open House. The Norwegian Drawing Association, Oslo, No
2013 212/Guests rooms, Muzalewska Gallery, Sky Tower, Wroclaw, PL
2013 Art & New Technologies, Center of Art EL Gallery, Elblag, PL, Art Line, SE
2012 Art & Apparatus, Kulturcentrum, Ronneby, SE
2009 Icons of victory/ TransFORM100 artists - 1980, 1989, 2009, Humboldt Umspannwerk, Berlin, D
2007 Random in Radom, Museum of Contemporary Art, Radom, PL
2006 Icons of Victory, Lodz Art Center, Lodz, PL
2003 Human&City, 48 Gallery, Poznan, PL
2003 I Biennial Art Community Poznan, Profil Gallery, Poznan, PL
PROJECTS IN PUBLIC SPACE
2022 Rødtene, County Hall, Bergen, NO
2022 Solar morphology, Søgne school and sports centre, Tangvall, NO
2020 The Roligheden School, The Red List of Protected Species - indoor project and 58°27′20″N 8°48′14″ - outdoor project, Færvik, Arendal, NO
2018 The Navel string, Kjerringøy Land Art Biennale, K Lab, Kjerringøy, NO
2018 The Protected Species, Åsane Culture House, Bergen, NO (the final competition)
2018 The Red List of Protected Species, Nord Odal Library and Bank, Sand, NO (the final competition)
2018 -2017 Water4Cast, Pottholmen Project, Karlskrona, SE (the final competition)
2016 Erythrocyte, 13 Muz Gallery, Szczecin, PL (the final proposal - unrealized )
2014 The Glomma, Nord Østerdal high school, Tynset, NO
2010 – 2011 The Wall of Warmth, Hoza 42 street, Warsaw, PL
2010 The Water Tank, Ujazdowski Park, Warsaw PL
2008 REM Phase, Polwiejska/ Krakowska street, in cooperation with EGO Gallery, Poznan, PL
2007 REM Phase, Marszalkowska/ Swietokrzyska street, in cooperation with Ujazdowski Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, PL
RESEARCH
2022 The Weeping project in cooperation with Andreas Carlson’s group at The Department of Mathematics, University of Oslo, NO
2018 – 2020 Project dedicated to public water space - preliminary project in cooperation with The University of South-Eastern Norway, Bø, NO
2017 The Water4Cast Projekt in cooperation with Betong LAB, Unicon AS, Larvik, NO
2017 The Stentgrafts Project in cooperation with Water jet LAB, Ronneby, SE
2015 Research visit at Water jet LAB, Water Jet Sweden AB, Kunsthall Ronneby, SE
2011 – 2012 The Bodies of Rivers Project in cooperation with BT Institutt and ARTLine, Ronneby, SE
SCHOLARSHIPS & PRIZES
2022 Billedkunstnernes Vederlagsfonds working grant (1-year), Norway
2022 Vestfold and Telemark County Municipality's Artist Grant, Norway
2019 Vestfold Kunstsenter working grant (1-year), Norway
2019 Buskerud Kunstsenter production grant, Norway
2017 Arts Council Norway Diversity Scholarship
2015/ 2016 Nordic Culture Point Mobility Grant
2014 The Association of Norwegian Visual Artist (NBK), working grant, 1-year
2010 EXIT Art Prize for 2010, Poland
2002/ 2007/ 2009 Ministry of Culture and National Heritage in Poland, working grant, 1-year
COMMISSIONS
KORO Public Art Agency, NO
Region Kronoberg Collection, SE
Marek Maria Pienkowski Foundation Collection, USA
Jan Kulczyk Collection, PL/CH
Grażyna Kulczyk Collection, PL/CH
Andrzej Sykulski Collection, PL
Dorota and Marek Dojnow Collection, PL
Works in private collections in France, Austria, Norway, Sweden, USA and Poland.
BIBLIOGRAPHY (selected)
2018 Ingemar Lönnbom: Se människans ekosystem, Blekinge Läns Tidning, 17.11.18
2017 Blood: Attract & Repel. Exhibition catalogue, Science Gallery Melbourne
2017 Izabela Zolcinska, Skin. Objects, text. Exhibition catalogue, Wozownia Gallery, Torun
2017 Inga Walton: A Bloody Business – Blood: Attract & Repel, Trouble Magazine, No.149, p.40-4, AU
2017 Monika Wróbel: Place of contemporary art in city spaces based on Warsaw, PhD thesis, Faculty of Architecture (FA), Warsaw University of Technology
2017 Brit Anne Botheim: Kunst Tilstede, Kunstbanken Hedmark Kunstsenter
2016 Elin Thornberg: En hell sjo ska in i Kunsthallen, Blekinge Läns Tidning, 20.04.16, p. 30-31
2016 Oksydan. On the fluid empathetic side of life. Exhibition catalogue,13 Muz, 2016, p. 50-53
2015 Dejana Pasic: En utrotningshotad art har blivit konst, östra småland 18.03.2015, p. 22
2015 Karin Asmundsson: Vill skydda hotade byggnader. Kalmar läns tidning 19.03.2015, p.19
2015 Gunilla Petri: Tunna linjespel som viskar om svåra frågor. Barometern 21.03.2015, p. 43
2015 Lena Wicherkiewicz: About corporal aspect of The Bodies of Rivers. Format Nr 70/2015, p. 80
2014 Leif Houck: De riktige grepene. Architecture Magazin: Arkitektur N, No. 5-2014, p. 31
2014 Ingerid Helsing Almaas, Markus Richter: Open Call - Høyblokka Revisited. Architecture Magazin: Arkitektur N, No. 4-2014, p. 30-33
2014 Marit Arnesen: Med kjærlighet for vann. Daily magazine: Østlendingen, No. 167, p.14
2014 Lena Wicherkiewicz: The Corporal Continuum. Catalogue of the Exhibition, Wozownia Gallery, Torun, PL
2014 Izabela Zolcinska: The Bodies of Rivers. Art Line a baltic cooperation. Art Line catalogue, p. 130-134
2012 Izabela Zolcinska in conversation with Jaromir Jedlinski. Catalogue of Biofilia exhibition, Muzalewska Gallery, Poznan 2012, p. 10 – 27
2012 Agnieszka Dela: About visual transfusions pumping warmth. Art Magazine: Art Punkt; No. 12, March 2012, p. 12
2011 Magdalena Wicherkiewicz: Female part of the decade, female part of art 2001 - 2012. Art Magazine: Format Nr 61/2011, p. 20
2010 Magdalena Wicherkiewicz: Red Trials. Art Magazine: EXIT New art in Poland, No. 4 (84)2010, p. 5594
2010 Anna Brzezinska: Eye on the architecture. Daily magazine: Rzeczpospolita 27.08.2010
2010 Blood will flow on Hoza. Daily magazine: Gazeta Wyborcza 27.08.2010
2009 Magdalena Wicherkiewicz: The Capillary. Art Magazine: EXIT New art in Poland, No. 2(78)2009, p.5138
2009 Kazimierz Piotrowski: Icons of Victory – SIEGesIKONen in Berlin http://www.obieg.pl/recenzje/13923
2008 Gabriela Jarzebowska: In the name of Jerzy Busza – Random in Radom http://www.obieg.pl/recenzje/5592
2008 Izabela Zolcinska: Art survival outside of „white cube” space – on the margins of the 6th edition SURVIVAL Art Review. Art Magazine: Oronsko – Kwartalnik Rzezby; 3-4/2007
MEMBERSHIP
The Association of Norwegian Visual Artists (NBK),
Young Artists’ Society (UKS),
The Norwegian Drawing Association (TF),
The Association of Visual Artists in Vestfold (VBK) in Norway.