Agnieszka Nienartowicz
Agnieszka Nienartowicz was born in 1991 in Jelenia Góra, a small town in Lower Silesia, Poland. She studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk, where in 2016 she received a Master of Fine Arts. In the years 2011-2013 she studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław. She actively exhibits in Europe and the USA, and her works are situated in various collections worldwide. Nienartowicz lives and works in Cracow, Poland.
Living in a very Catholic country, where the abortion is almost completely prohibited, LGBTQ+ rights are not respected and the Catholic government breaks the constitution, Agnieszka Nienartowicz in her artistic practice explores the subject of religion. Nienartowicz, being brought up in a Catholic home herself, in her youth and her early 20s was very religious and considered joining a monastery. Eventually she left the religion. In her paintings, Nienartowicz shows women marked with tattoos with religious motives - often known from the history of art - and studies the influence of religion, upbringing and past history on people's lives.
Hi Agnieszka Nienartowicz, tell us about your background. How and when did you first start to paint?
My parents are Polish philologists: mom teaches literature, dad has been a journalist for many years and in the early stages of my life, I used to write a lot and wanted to be a writer. At the same time, I have always liked to paint, draw, make cutouts and sculpt. I always crafted – and I used everything I had at hand. There is a family anecdote: when I was 3, my dad brought from Aachen, Germany an exclusive glycerin soap. It was the early 90s, there was poverty in Poland. He put it in the bathroom, then I walked in and, while washing my hands, out of this expensive, quite soft soap I made a guy figurine and left the bathroom as if nothing had happened.
I have always been painting. It has always been something that absorbs me completely.
What is your process like? How do you begin to work?
My studio is in my apartment, and I share it with my husband who is a photographer. I get up around 9-10 am, eat breakfast with my husband and start to work. I have good headphones with noise reduction, I cut myself off from all the sounds around. While painting, I listen to audiobooks, podcasts, music. I also like to paint in silence. I am a big fan of matcha tea, and I often drink it during work. My husband and I often work till late in the evening (sometimes we both get lazy, too). When my husband is away for a long time - his work is associated with frequent trips - I can work over a dozen hours a day and I lose track of time.
Each day is similar but a bit different: depending on my mood or what I’ve planned, I paint, I design paintings, I do the office work. As for the painting process itself, I work in oil on canvas. Over the years, observing the Great Masters’ technique and experimenting myself, I developed my own painting methods.
What does your artwork represent?
This is a difficult question. I avoid explaining my works, I prefer to let the viewer tell me what they see. However, if I have to say something, for me my paintings are about the stigma that religion imposes on people. I used to be very religious and after leaving religion, I felt a great need to talk about how much trauma religion can do and how much it can enslave, how it can narrow the view of the world. I think in some way I settled accounts with this part of my life and my anger subsided. I think now I see all sides of religion, the good and the bad ones. I use symbols, in art they play an important role for me, they carry a kind of premonition. And the premonition is something that builds a painting.
All the characters in your paintings are women in different ages; why? How do you choose your character?
So far, I had been painting women and they were all in a similar age to mine. Probably it is simply because I am a woman at the age of quite early adulthood myself and I know only this perspective and this one is natural for me. Recently I painted some paintings with children, including babies, because I was reflecting on their religious experience and how religion shapes their future lives.
For my paintings I hire models, sometimes also my friends pose for me. For me it is not as important who poses as to create a certain vision.
How do you relate tattoos with religion in your work to show your concept?
In the nineteenth century, tattooing bodies by women was seen as an act of emancipation, "throwing off the corset". Today tattoos have entered the mainstream and constitute a kind of diary - images, symbols and signs are usually carefully selected by its owners. However, I treat the tattoo as a seal because it cannot be removed. In the same way, it is impossible to remove what shaped us - including religion. Values change throughout life, but I don't think the core of our being changes. The roots are shaped in the first years of life.
Systems of religious beliefs and doctrines leave very deep marks and scars. And so, the tattoo as a symbol of release from the yoke of a corset, eventually becomes a corset itself, it takes away the identity.
Describe a real-life situation that inspired you.
Life in general is inspiring. Although, at the same time I think it is pointless. What’s funny is that this nonsense and futility of life – apart from frightening and saddening me – at the same time inspires me. The fact that we have no purpose at the end, and everything is a chaos, makes me want to act and take a piece out of this life for myself, live without fear and live my life in its fullness.
