https://www.aleksandrazawada.com/aleksandrazawada-work daily 1.0 2025-11-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ca703c4af468388e54ddd2d/1555497944440-IFO05HD77DBA97LW4G7B/AZawada_11Homages_toget_9.jpg Work https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ca703c4af468388e54ddd2d/1588675301853-W8Y26Q5EWTTD9W3NOZWF/AZawada_PurpleTV_5.jpg Work - TV people strike back. (Haruki Murakami), 2019 Series of 34 drawings, on Fabriano paper https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ca703c4af468388e54ddd2d/1555317900874-MQSQDABO8RFBOK22TN6X/AZawada_Hasbeens_19.jpg Work - Has beens 2017 Series of 21 drawings on card https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ca703c4af468388e54ddd2d/1594053523143-HSIHFM9RMUWHFT9JW0J7/AZawada_Realities2019_2.jpg Work - Realities of tying many strings 2018-2019 Series of 53 drawings in 3 parts, on Fabriano paper https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ca703c4af468388e54ddd2d/1555399503311-A43SHBX5UNDYGL9F5Z25/AZawada_Line_madeby_13.jpg Work - Lane made by 2017 Series of 20 drawings on card https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ca703c4af468388e54ddd2d/1555408537294-NCMZ8O1X4ZE9CP9VPXMO/AZawada_2Viaggio_to_14.jpg Work - Second Viaggio to, 2016 Series of 22 drawings on card; Work is available for sale at Saatchi Art https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ca703c4af468388e54ddd2d/1555403848934-746Q3ZH4K4ESE9EKC5UZ/AZawada_Inrounds_9.jpg Work - In rounds 2016 Series of 17 drawings on paper Work is available for sale at the Saatchi Art https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ca703c4af468388e54ddd2d/1555497433397-U111UNRGZJCSEXD2R2UL/AZawada_neitheronion_4.jpg Work - Neither onion or time (amber) (Günter Grass), 2017 Series of 19 drawings on card https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ca703c4af468388e54ddd2d/1554978099975-0NFG6T49IRSR16W1LZXN/AZawada_mudme_10.jpg Work - Mud me 2017 Series of 24 drawings https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ca703c4af468388e54ddd2d/1555325597702-SL4IW6RHNVWAPAWVL8SZ/AZawada_Moreofthesame_7.jpg Work - More of the same 2017 Series of 19 drawings on Fabriano https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ca703c4af468388e54ddd2d/1554978819860-2PNIIBJ41IUQYXPYXPYC/AZawada_Fountain_Drawings_19.jpg Work https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ca703c4af468388e54ddd2d/1629408535069-HN8HD4YETGY2PYM2EP11/AZawada_Odetosnow_den_0.jpg Work - Ode to Snow Den 2015 Series of 10 drawings on card https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ca703c4af468388e54ddd2d/1629406822890-XFWKGDG6929A2656T5AE/AZawada_Hasbeens_7.jpg Work - Selected drawings from 2017 A4, Fabriano paper Drawing are from series: “Neither onion or time”(after Günter Grass), 2017(19) “Mud me”,2017 (24) “More of the same”, 2017(19) “Has beens”, 2017(21) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ca703c4af468388e54ddd2d/1617908325622-A3XSXR4QM5L9PPGUFHFM/AZawada_2Viaggio_to_14.jpg Work - Selected Drawings, 2016 Selection of drawings from different series made in 2016. A4, card Drawing are from series: “Second Viaggio to”, 2016(22) “ 11 Homages to get”, 2016(11) “In Rounds”, 2016(17) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ca703c4af468388e54ddd2d/1619359120228-JE9R1IGLRZHCLM5RAPX0/AZawada_OnCanvas_Purple_on_Blue_4_2019_by_LD_1.jpg Work - On Aleksandra Zawada Sometimes it is the people who no-one thinks anything of, who do the things that no-one can think of. It has always been true that artists who do anything that is eventually worth anything, have to come to terms, in their art, with what’s come before them. What this really means is sorting out in their own minds what exactly it is that matters most to them in the art that has come before, because they have to somehow accommodate it in their own art. This isn’t necessarily a conscious process, nor one that always happens easily, or quickly. By accommodate I mean absorb, come to terms with, even confront. In AZ’s case, for example, one of these artists might be Cy Twombly, not least because so much of Twombly’s painting consists of drawing. Not much in AZ’s art superficially resembles Twombly’s painting, and neither is it anything like on the scale of Twombly’s. At the same time its raw, uningratiating look, its unconcern with finish, the immediacy of its drawing and inventiveness of its forms are all qualities in common with Cy Twombly’s early painting. AZ’s painting would, in fact, infinitely benefit by being on the scale of Twombly’s. Right now it remains modest in scale – though not modest as art. (It’s perhaps significant that like Twombly, AZ has also made bodies of work in sculpture and photography.) AZ’s work could not contrast more with the polished, sophisticated work produced by her peers at college, anxious (whether they knew it or not) to comply with the market-oriented imperatives of academic art school convention. AZ’s work so far seems quite outside all that, as genuinely original work always is - incapable of novelty or superficiality for the purposes of material gain. It’s also true that original work almost always comes about in a difficult, halting way, full of false starts. This is even more so in a provincial situation, where there’s no institutional support, no real visual culture, little other contemporary painting of quality to look at, and no real market for serious and innovative painting. In this sense, the isolation of any really genuine artist is so crushing, and has always been so, that only the most determined character can survive it. Sometimes it is the people who no-one thinks anything of, who do the things that no-one can think of. Text written by Alan Shipway https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ca703c4af468388e54ddd2d/1730987028441-TJQ5Q9PNR3QR6T8RF4AP/Aleksandra_Zawada_sculpture_rider_poster_2022_large.jpg Work - Ceramic sculptures Sculptures 2020-2018 ©Aleksandra Zawada All photographs by Lorenzo Dalberto Q & A 1. How did you start working with clay? I enrolled to adult learning course: sculpture in clay. I liked it. I simply felt need to make and learn more. There was no plan, I just kept going. 2. What and/or who are you most inspired or influenced by? I am inspired by Ancient Japanese and Oriental ceramic sculpture, Outsider ceramics; colour and art that has inspired me regardless of their origins and times they were made. 3. What is your process? My pieces are hand-built from mainly raku clay, hand painted using oxides and glazes. I love colour. My work does not shy away from strong tones. I often use glazes that reference historical glazes I have seen in museums in Japan and China. I built my skills by practice and by looking forward to the next work. 4. What motivates you? I enjoy working with clay. I have always had an affinity for simple and tactile materials. I enjoy simplicity of clay, its playfulness and the unexpected when the piece comes out of kiln. I enjoy being “lost” in the process. It was pointed out to me that my work is funny. It is not deliberate. 5. What is your defining moment so far? I get a feeling of achievement each time my work is on display or goes to new home. The bursary from the British Ceramic Biennial and visit to The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery in Stoke on Trent was a turning point for me. Being able to see work I admire made me find my own place in working in ceramics. It just clicked and felt right. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ca703c4af468388e54ddd2d/1639052176486-DEY7OE098RN1LO6KY4KA/AZawada_Realities2019_15.jpg Work - Selected drawings from 2018-2019 Fabriano paper Drawings are from the series: “Realities of tying many strings “ 2018-2019, (53 drawings in 3 parts) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ca703c4af468388e54ddd2d/1689972437068-93M3YFUWNB9Z7VRXRPFF/Aleksandra_Zawada_ESW_project_space_byLD_group_1.jpg Work - Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop, 2022 Installation at the end of project at the ESW Eduardo Paolozzi Research Space. The project was supported by VACMA Bursary, 2022 All installation photos by Lorenzo Dalberto https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ca703c4af468388e54ddd2d/1731073252418-TRA9IJSOWUUWN34AFNY3/Aleksandra_Zawada_sculpture_ESW_virgin_2.jpg Work - Selected sculptures Selected ceramic sculptures 2022 - 2020 ©Aleksandra Zawada All photographs by Lorenzo Dalberto https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ca703c4af468388e54ddd2d/1739733880774-X6TQ0INCTV46WDSE5EPS/Aleksandra_Zawada_sculpture_boy-with-butterfly_2024_photo_Lorenzo_Dalberto_1.jpg Work - Sculpture 2024 < 2024 - ongoing ©Aleksandra Zawada All photographs by Lorenzo Dalberto https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ca703c4af468388e54ddd2d/1760532015088-0ETHZ3D94COJ8R7IYNVX/AleksandraZawada-Boy-with-fern-hat-2025-photo-by-Lorenzo-Dalberto-6_BIG.jpg Work - Bronze sculptures Bronze sculptures - ongoing ©Aleksandra Zawada All photographs by Lorenzo Dalberto This body of work was made between Feb- Aug 2025 with support of Creative Scotland Open Fund for Individuals. All works were made by hand from start to finish by AZ, at the ESW metal casting workshop. I would like to thank Technicians : Stephen, Uist, Vicky, Gabi for supporting this work. Q & A - Sep 2025 1. Why bronze? It started in 2023. I saw a show in Paris. After, I was so curious how my work will look in bronze, I just had to do it. I had no casting experience at all, nor expectations. I made 2 casts: a sand cast and a ceramic mould. When I saw my first work in bronze, I saw something showing promise. It took me another year to gather enough funds to be able to come back to do casting. Before that, I looked at bronze in museums and widely speaking art world. Seeing another work in metal in the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice is something I remember vividly. In 2022, I did a project studying surface on the bronze while working on a new body of work in ceramics. One thing leads to another. 2. What is your process? All my work is taken from original work, modelled in clay. At this point, the work is a mixture of work selected for casting and the work made especially to cast from. As for now, I do not work with commercial foundry. I have worked with artists experienced in metal casting. We worked and learnt from each other. There were trials and errors. I made every single work myself. When I started this project, the way I worked with bronze was as important as the work itself. It has been important for me that I work from a membership/open access point, and I do everything from start to finish. I wanted to be uncomfortable: without a studio or storage space. I worked in a form self-set up, nomadic “apprenticeship”. I worked 3-4 days a week in a workshop for 6 months, making moulds. The rest of the time, it was modelling new body of work. The setup had to be simple and easy to replicate if anyone else wanted to. I felt my biggest gift was the time to be able to work this way. It was not the most time-efficient way to produce, but an outcome was not my main aim. It was the most effective way to learn. I am very grateful to the founders (Creative Scotland Open Fund) for funding a project that concentrates on learning. These days, it is rare to focus on skills. I am lucky I live in a city that still has a metal foundry and the expertise to do this kind of work. I was surrounded by a great team. 3. How do you see your work in context working with such a historical material? I like working with very simple means in a simple set up. I am aware it can feel contradictory if one thinks of working in bronze. My work so far is made from scrap bronze. It is far away from what one associates with bronze as an expensive material. Industrial recycled metal is quite humble. It is rubbish, really. It is time that is expensive. Hours put into learning something new are important and a grounding experience. I like to work with and against material. Pushing limits of “needed”. What I mean is that I work against this preconception of hierarchy of materials and the idea of bronze being somewhere close to “art materials summit”. Doing this project has actually challenged this notion of “made in metal” as automatically being “ good” or “ serious “ work. I disagree that material makes work good. I think material and content should blend into something that works. I am dedicated to my art practice. But I try to avoid a “serious” way of work, meaning lacking risk or play. Serious can be very restrictive, at times suffocating. It is hard to play with material that requires so much planning, preparation, expense and time. I could only try. One has to have stamina to take this risk after months working on one mould. Then it all happens as if by magic during a few seconds of bronze being poured. 4. What is next? I would love to show this body of work together, if anything is possible, I would love to show it in dialogue with a collection: old or new, but I also like surprising locations. For a while I have been thinking of the idea of commission, making a sculpture for a specific place or setting; my take on idea of “an atarpiece”. Working from smaller model to large public sculpture size work has also crossed my mind. But in general, I would love to just keep making. Every day making is a blessing. I cherish the time of play in the studio and I want to spend time exploring some ideas that emerged during the hours working on moulds for the pour. https://www.aleksandrazawada.com/photography daily 0.75 2023-07-21 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ca703c4af468388e54ddd2d/1557818253217-QMP8D8L00PZPCTX3YRM1/AZawada_Paessagio2014_1.jpg Photography - Paesaggio* 2013-2016 The project attempts to capture Italy facing social and economic changes. It captures discrepancy between Italian postcard-ready landscape with looking at the country being in the front of migration crisis. The project is captured in “passing by” and plays with idea of “passeggiata”- habit of seeing and being seen. The work forgets the rules “how to” capture Italian landscape saturated in history. The works were taken on the film, are presented as captured. Colours intend to dialogue with colour Italian film photography of 70s and glide on the edge of tribute to Luigi Ghirri – photographer, whose work brought me to do residency in Italy in first place. The project was possible with help of: Deirdre McKenna, Cheryl Connell, the Stills Gallery in Edinburgh, Fondazione Fotografia in Modena, Arrigo Ghi, Scottish Hope Trust and LD. To whom, I am grateful . The images were taken in Modena, Reggio Emilia, Bologna and Rome. Images from left to right: 1-4 Reggio Emilia, 2014 5 Bologna, 2014 6 Modena,2014 7 Reggio Emilia, 2014 8-9 Modena, 2013 10 Reggio Emilia, 2014 11- 14 Modena, 2013 15 Modena, 2014 16 Rome, 2016 17-18 Reggio Emilia 2014 19 Modena, 2013 20-21 Reggio Emilia, 2014 22 Modena, 2013 23 Reggio Emilia, 2013 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ca703c4af468388e54ddd2d/1588679292447-RD8F75755XRHO17QJ35Y/AZawada_youarenot8.jpg Photography - " You are not along", 2012 Between reality and dream. The title came from the mural I saw that paraphrased Michael Jacksons song “You are not alone”. I took it as an invitation to my “diary” under the same title. 35mm film https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ca703c4af468388e54ddd2d/1555580567301-56KCNTR71U3Q9GVS8QTU/AZawada_Tape_drawings_1.jpg Photography - TAPE DRAWINGS, 2014-2015 The project was made during the artist residency at the Royal Scottish Academy Collections. Series of archival prints in folio , edited as book in 2017 . In spring 2014, I started artist residency at the Royal Scottish Academy Collections. Tape Drawings emerged from my time at the collections. Initially, I was interested in researching RSA’s ties to the development of an early photography. However, gradually I decided to spend more and more time looking closer at early documentary photographs of the Academicians. What captured my attention, were not the best examples of Victorian photographs in RSA Collection holdings, but the marginal occurrence. I was interested in the discoloration on the photographs caused over time by a conservation tape. I have gathered all the marks appearing on the original photographs. Then I rearranged them. Final body of work consists of those sequenced tape drawings. It refers to sculptural body without being one; presence created in tool less way - by time. The conflict between 3D and 2D has been occupying my work for a while. As I prefer to and work comfortably in flat, the interest in sculpture and material as such has been consistent element and inspiration in my work. It is more prominent at times, as it is in the “Tape Drawings” case. It makes me question tools used to make work: limiting unnecessary and looking into my work methods. The work was possible due to the support of the Residencies for Scotland and the Royal Scottish Academy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ca703c4af468388e54ddd2d/1594050344347-NGYD36FDBVUTNU7YF2Z5/AZawada_GirlfromModena61_2019_1_front.jpg Photography - Girl from M* Series is exhibited online as part of Brighton Photo Fringe 2020 With Special thanks to” Girl from M” and her friend. “Girl from M*” is a project, started during my residency at the Fondazione Fotografia in Modena. It was before my camera turned vertical, but before I gathered my courage to approach strangers to ask for one photograph. “Girl from M*” is one of the first frames I took of people with the series in mind. It kept coming back to me as a song you hear in the morning on the radio and which follows you for the rest of the day. The series is built around that portrait. It is repeated and merged with Sebastiao Salgado’s book: “Children”. The identities that emerge in this process are oscillating between real and surreal. A nostalgic representation of adolescence and childhood; of true and of an imagined; of belonging to a specific country and of borderless interchange. The final work addresses how much of the portrayed is revealed to both the photographer and the viewer. It questions how to represent complex individual histories, sense of self and belonging. The title of series comes from the 60’s song “Girl from Ipanema” (by Astrud Gilberto, Joao Gilberto & Stan Getz). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ca703c4af468388e54ddd2d/1594154311918-XDP5EQK11XC12PQQECLN/AZawada_Photography_woship2020_1.jpg Photography - Worship Ongoing Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity (…). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ca703c4af468388e54ddd2d/1564480259660-JCVBQ2O3MOKTTY4MA6NP/AZawada_GreenPaperBook_17Stills.jpg Photography - Green (Paper) Book 绿皮书 (Lǜ pí shū) GREEN (PAPER) BOOK, 2011- 2012 Series of 13 Prints (with 2 variants), Fujicolor Crystal Archive Paper, 2012 Green (Paper) Book is dedicated to the strip of land in Beijing, China. Few meters wide, strip surrounds Beijing highway, linking city centre with airport and non - city land. I was captivated by people employed to maintain greenery in this not obviously agricultural location. The location represents the travel towards city, where the dreams supposed to come truth. Henri Rousseau’s book became an excuse to talk about labour and land related issues in real and metaphoric landscape context. Green (Paper) Book also touches on art production and idea of original, which are often present in my practice. Exhibition images by Lorenzo Dalberto https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ca703c4af468388e54ddd2d/1644421000480-6IMPMGYSHSVHCFUTZ5CJ/Aleksandra_Zawada_printmaking_flavia_rosa_1A_with_logo.jpg Photography - Photogravure Flavia, 2016 Plate size: 20,5 x 13,7cm Print size: 35 x 25 cm Ed of 29 in 3 colours variation Photogravure on Fabriano in 2 colours; Selection of Toyobo (photopolymer gravure) prints made at the Edinburgh Printmakers The project was supported by VACMA bursary https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ca703c4af468388e54ddd2d/1594152726744-WXQHK802SKL0QOMYIFS1/AZawada_Photography_Still_life2015_1.jpg Photography https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ca703c4af468388e54ddd2d/1604394835014-EYH4H77JA79WXSM2K28B/AZawada_Japan_2009_2.jpg Photography - Kumishashin (Assembled Pictures) , 2009-2010, Japan “ Sometimes a photographer is a passenger, sometimes a person who stays in one place. What he watches changes constantly, but his watching never changes. He doesn’t examine like a doctor, defend like a lawyer, analyze like a scholar, support like a priest, make people laugh like a comedian, or intoxicate like a singer. He only watches. This is enough. No, this is all I can do. All a photographer can do is watch. Therefore, a photographer has to watch all the time. He must face the object and make his entire body an eye. A photographer is someone who wagers everything on seeing. This is what a photographer is.” Shomei Tomatsu from “Pencil of the Sun”(Taiyo no empitsu), 1975 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ca703c4af468388e54ddd2d/1593805788821-DZF8SC2OQHC475UE57RI/AZawada_Burial2017_15front.jpg Photography - Burial 2014-2017 Burial is about trying to erase what I already know. Project focuses on how much is needed to represent and if it is possible to represent without being literal. It turns to marginal, every day, fragmented and trivial. Putting peripheral into focus the project investigates everyday with sense of discovery, up close. It abandons long distance, oriental destinations to travel via familiar territories. This is done, in order to make space for the inner and for new to come. The project picks up puzzles to formulate identity. Photographs of “Burial” could be taken anywhere; they are collected piece by piece. They constitute specific portrait of viewer, carried by Northern European gaze in search of familiar, of something that one relates to in the transient every day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ca703c4af468388e54ddd2d/1670494393991-PT1YF2K4K1C7GJXNEF6Q/AZawada_likeaprince_2014_17.jpg Photography https://www.aleksandrazawada.com/about daily 0.75 2025-11-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ca703c4af468388e54ddd2d/fa768983-5fde-4a89-ba29-6c7ef20a10f8/AleksandraZawada-portrait-sep-2025-by-Lorenzo-Dalbero-7.jpg About - Make it stand out Photo by Lorenzo Dalberto https://www.aleksandrazawada.com/aleksandrazawada-cv daily 0.75 2026-03-18 https://www.aleksandrazawada.com/aleksadrazawada-contact daily 0.75 2025-03-01