I start my work by looking for discarded objects and use them to construct a story, or rather a landscape – sometimes nostalgic, sometimes apocalyptic. Objects are witnesses to events, material memories. It is most beautiful when they are faded or rusty. Then I know that the sun was peeping through that old slide, and the satellite dish was watching the sky for many starry nights. I build installations out of them that tremble or spin in circles, pulsate, squeak. My imagination works better when I don’t close my eyes and working with matter has a calming, meditative effect on me. It always seemed to me that I could lay down a forest with the sweep of one hand, like a hurricane.
The aurora borealis etches the sky with green light, and I watch the snow under those mists glitter. I imagine its creaking and don’t take a step. I do not need to confront this imagination with reality. My home is where I imagine, my home is all over the Earth. As I get older, I am happier and happier. The only thing I fear is that one of the dreams will eventually not come true.
artist statement SECONDARY ARCHIVE
Marta Krześlak (b. 1994, Wyszków, Poland) is a Polish artist living and working between Brussels and Łódź.
She defended her PhD thesis, Cloudy sky, at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków. She previously graduated with a Master’s degree from the Multimedia Studio at the Academy of Art in Łódź, where her diploma work, Ruins of My Dreams, received notable recognition.
She has participated in residency programs at the International Studio & Curatorial Program in New York, MeetFactory in Prague, and Kooshk Residency in Tehran.
contact
krzeslakmarta@gmail.com
education
× 2018–2023, PhD degree, Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow, PL, Intermedia
× 2013–2018, Master of Arts, Academy of Fine Arts in Lodz, PL, Painting and Graphic
× 2016–2017 (two semesters), Warsaw Academy of Art, PL, New Media Art
× 2017 (one semester), École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, FR, Art
residencies
× Jul–Aug 2022, International Studio and Curatorial Program, New York City, USA
× Oct–Nov 2019, Meet Factory, Prague, CZ
× Dec 2018, Kooshk Residency, Teheran, IR
× Apr 2015, Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Dresden, DE
awards and grants
× 2025, National Recovery Plan for Culture Scholarship
× 2020–2023, Ministry of Science and Higher Education Scholarship
× 2020, Project Room Award, nomination, Centre of Contemporary Art in Warsaw
× 2019, I-Portunus, Goethe Institut
× 2018, First Prize, Grey Foundation Competition, Grey House Gallery, Cracow
× 2018, Grand Prix, Młode Wilki Festival, Szczecin
public collections
× Museum of Art in Lodz, purchased in 2020
solo shows (selected)
× 2024, Net, Foyer Arlekin Theatre, Lodz, PL, 14 Sep–30 Dec
× 2022, View from afar, Hestia Artistic Journey Pavilion, Warsaw, PL, 15 Jan–30 Mar
× 2022, Moving Things, Zachęta National Gallery Project Room, Warsaw, PL, 10 Dec–20 Feb
× 2021, Home on a windy night, Pracownia Portretu, Lodz, PL, 13 Nov–20 Dec
× 2021, Composition on wind and sun, Wolskie Centrum Kultury, Warsaw, PL, 14 Jun–14 Oct
× 2021, Ajaaoeho, Grey House Foundation, Cracow, PL, 18.02–16.05
× 2020, Aurora, Spectra Art Space, Warsaw, PL, 18.09–9.10
× 2019, Stars cry, Gdansk City Gallery, Gdansk, PL, 1.01–30.09
× 2019, Lagoon, Groszowe Sprawy & Biennale Warszawa, Warsaw, PL, 1–2.06
× 2019, Garage sketches, Temporary Parapet, Bratislava, SK, 24.05–14.06
× 2019, Party at the Artist’s Club, Centre of Contemporary Art – Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, PL, 28.03–5.05
× 2019, Fairy Tales, Industra Art Space, Brno, CZ, 6.03–4.04
× 2018, Spatial composition, video program, City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, JP, 4.12–31.04
× 2018, Ruins of my dreams, Czynna Gallery, Lodz, PL, 28.06
× 2018, Nigdy nie widziałam takich plaż, Re:Medium Lodz City Gallery, Lodz, PL, 14.06–14.07
× 2017, Coral reef, Freedom Square, Lodz, PL, 4.12– 4.03
× 2017, Imagine that its now, Pracownia Duży Pokój, Warsaw, PL, 23.02
group shows (selected)
× 2025, Ball on a Squere, Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw, PL, 13.09
× 2025, Urszula Broll. Landscapes of a distant down, Rondo Sztuki, Katowice, PL, 26.09–10.01.2026
× 2025, They sold us a dream, then took away our sleep, Fondazione Pastificio Cerere, Rome, IT, 1.10–22.11
× 2025, Chiaroscuro, Dětská galerie Lapidárium, Broumov, CZ, 18 Apr–7 Jun
× 2024, Radical pleasures, Italian Cultural Institute, Warsaw, PL, 29 Nov–8 Jan
× 2024, Festiwal nad rzeką, Warsztaty Kultury, Lubin, PL, 1 Jun–30 Oct
× 2024, Kto to wymyślił, Kamienica Hilarego Majewskiego, Lodz, PL, 15 Feb–10 Mar
× 2023, Czułe punkty, Narracje Festival, Gdansk, PL, 17–18 Nov
× 2023, Second skin: Encounters, KODE Lysverket, Bergen, NO, 14 Oct–26 Nov
× 2023, Second skin, Central Museum of Textiles, Lodz, PL, 19 May–3 Sep
× 2023, 499 sekund, Art Walk, Warsaw, PL, 8 Dec–31 Mar
× 2022, Time out of joint, Museum of Art, Lodz, PL, 3 Jun–18 Sep
× 2022, Secondary Archive, The National Gallery, Manifesta 14, Prishtina, XK, 22 Jul–30 Oct
× 2022, Pyramide de Ponzi, Galerie Valerie Delaunay, Paris, FR, 30 Jun–23 Jul
× 2020, Time and Foam, Cracow Art Week, Cracow, PL, 21 Oct–26 Nov
× 2020, Something in common, Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw, PL, 2 Oct–13 Jan
× 2020, Wasteland, Survival Art Festival, Wroclaw, PL, 10–13 Sep
× 2019, Honey we built Chernobyl or: a cigar-shaped shelter, Henryk Gallery & Unsound Festival, Cracow, PL, 9 Oct–27 Oct
× 2019, From The Belly Of A Circle Comes Out A Square, Matca Art Space, Kluż-Napoka, RO, 29 Mar–13 Apr
× 2019, Obrzeża i bocznice, 18A Gallery, Warsaw, PL, 24–31 Jan
× 2019, Czekając aż pstryknie, A- Kumulacje Kaliskie Biennale Sztuki, Kalisz, PL, 7–28 Feb
× 2018, Gradient, Grey House Fundation, Cracow, PL, 8 Dec–5 Jan
× 2018, Best Graduation Diploma, Gdansk, PL, 4 Aug–9 Sep
× 2018, M3, Wschodnia Gallery, Lodz, PL, 10–24 Jun
× 2018, A la Flamande 3- Landscape, Propaganda Gallery, Warsaw, PL, 24 Mar–14 Apr
× 2017, Changes in perspective – The 16th Hestia Artistic Journey, Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw, PL, 27 Jun–9 Jul
× 2017, 18 May–11 Jun, Biennale WRO 2017 Draft Systems, Centrum Sztuki Wro, Wroclaw, PL, 18 May–11 Jun
× 2016, (Nie)obecność, Labirynt Gallery, Lublin, PL, 18 Nov–18 Dec
× 2016, Second hand, Wschodnia Gallery, Lodz, PL, 28 May–5 Jun
× 2015, The war is over, not for everyone, Institute of National Remembrance, Warsaw, PL, 4– 31 May
× 2015, Drezno/Łódź Schools of Art, HfBK, Dresden, DE, 16 Apr–17 May
press
Interview, March 2019, PL https://culture.pl/pl/artykul/marta-krzeslak-caly-wszechswiat-da-sie-zrobic-z-papieru-i-wikolu-wywiad
July 2018, PL https://miejmiejsce.com/sztuka/nie-odnajdzie-wiecej-was-ta-sama-chwila
Interview, March 2020, PL https://miejmiejsce.com/sztuka/niech-zyje-bal