Artist Statement
My art is about memories and documenting them as a way to understand and describe the present — its places and communities. The tools I use are secondary; they follow the content. What’s crucial is the documentation itself.
Memories help me connect with the history of the places I visit and the people I meet. They’re also a way to reflect critically on the present. What I do is quite straightforward: I look at places, I listen to local stories and music, record sounds that catch my attention. I try to create situations where people feel comfortable speaking and where their voices can be heard.
I observe daily life and pay attention to everyday objects, searching for memories through all the senses. As a result, stories are told through words, images, sounds — and more recently, through touch. My practice has become more experiential and grounded in physical experience.
Through stillness (presence?), I am able to communicate with a chosen space in a non-verbal way — with time, I start to understand what it asks of me. There’s a layer of respect, care, and negotiation with space. This introduces a reflective, ethical dimension.
I work with analog photography, sound recordings, radio and text. I occasionally take on curatorial work.
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Born 1988, Gdańsk, Poland
Currently based in Austin, TX, USA
Selected Academic and Professional Appointments
2019-present
Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk, Poland
Assistant Professor, Photography Department (Head of the Department 2024/2025)
2018-2020
The National Museum in Gdansk, Poland
Department of Ethnography
Education
2014-2015
The Sputnik Photos Mentoring Program, Warsaw, Poland
2009-2011
University of Arts and Industrial Design Linz, Austria
2008-2012
Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk, Poland – Master’s Degree in Graphic Design
Awards and Recognitions
2023 – President of Gdańsk Cultural Scholarship
2018 – Honorable Mention, Most Beautiful Book of the Year 2017, Warsaw Book Fair
2014 – Hubert Sielecki Preis, Tricky Women Film Festival, Vienna, Austria (animation “Tremolo Non Troppo”)
2014 – President of Gdańsk Cultural Scholarship
2013 – Honorable Mention, Music and Sound, Best Austrian Animation, Vienna, Austria
2013 – Nomination, Local Artist Award, Crossing Europe International Film Festival, Linz, Austria
2013 – Nomination, Hubert Sielecki Preis, Vienna, Austria
2012 – Rector’s Grant for Best Students, Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk
2009–2011 – Scholarship for Academic Excellence, Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk
Solo Exhibitions and Projects
2017
“Words. Sounds. Objects.” / „Słowa. Dźwięki. Rzeczy.”
sound installation
Solidarity of Arts Festival, European Solidarity Centre, Gdańsk, Poland
2016
“About My Grandmother” / „O mojej babci”
exhibition
Kolonia Artystów / Artists’ Colony, Gdańsk, Poland
2015
“All Was Touched in Here” / „Tutaj wszystko jest już tknięte”
sound installation
Streetwaves Festival, Dobra Samotność
City Culture Institute in Gdańsk, Poland
2013
“Corpo Solido”
exhibition
National Gallery of Art, Sopot, Poland
Selected Group Exhibitions and Collaborative Projects
2024
(Un)Told
exhibition
Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk, Poland
2024
Trisity###5 ON TOUR: Łódź
exhibition
Galeria ASP Piotrkowska 68, Łódź, Poland
2023
Para Bellum
exhibition
WL4, Gdańsk, Poland
2022
“Ostatnio dodane 2”
exhibition
Small Aula, Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk, Poland
2022
“Anastomosis”
exhibition
Great Armoury, Gdańsk, Poland
2018
“Trisity”
exhibition
tuBaza, Gdynia, Poland
2018
“Nothing Left to Be Saved”, The Hidden Photo project
exhibition
Instytut Fotografii Fort, Warsaw, Poland
2015–2017
“Voiceover” (together with Julie Myers and Bojan Mucko)
performance
Blyth (UK), Zagreb (HR), Gdańsk (PL), Blackhall Colliery (UK)
2017
“10 Years of the Graphic Design Department”
exhibition
Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk, Poland
2015
“SITOFEST”
exhibition
tuBaza, Gdynia, Poland
Curatorial Work
2024
“Body-temperaments” („Ciało-temperamenty”)
exhibition
Goyki 3 Art Inkubator, Sopot, Poland
2023
“New Beginning” („Nowy Początek”, co-curated with Magdalena Czajka-Cardoso)
Galeria Nowy Warzywniak, Oliwski Ratusz Kultury, Gdańsk, Poland
2023
„Ostoje” (co-curated together with Anna Ratajczak-Krajka and Waldemar Elwart)
exhibition
The Royal Rifle Factory (Królewska Fabryka Karabinów), Gdańsk, Poland
2019
“Klangfarbe Museum”, performance by Julie Myers
The National Museum in Gdańsk, Poland
Department of Ethnography
<b>conferences, artist talks, jury</b>
Jury of the 16. IN OUT Festival, Łaźnia Center …
/ 2022 artist talk, ISSP, Riga, Latvia
/ 2021 Cities in Flow, UrbCultural Planning, Riga, Latvia
/ 2021 “Artist as a mediator. Unfolding local stories”, artist talk during the Visaginas Urban Lab organised by UrbCulturalPlanning
/ 2017 “Art that is. Art that happens”, artists’ talk together with dr. Piotr Czyż, ZK/U Zentrum für Kunst und Urbanistik, Berlin, Germany
<b>scholarships and residencies</b>
/ 2022 ISSP AiR Programme
/ 2019, 2020 UrbCulturalPlanning (Interreg Baltic Sea Region) AiR Programme, Visaginas, Lithuania
/ 2014 – 2017 “Corners of Europe” Artists’ Platform
/ 2015 – 2016 resident of <a href=”http://www.kolonia-artystow.pl/” target=”_blank”>Kolonia Artystów / Artists’ Colony ul. Dolna 4. </a>
Film Festivals Screenings
2014
Tricky Women Animation Festival, Vienna, Austria
9. Polnische Filmwoche, Nuremberg, Germany
Diagonale (Tour Program of Best Austrian Animation 2013), Graz, Austria
O!Pla Against Prejudice, International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Wrocław, Poland
2013
One Day Animation Festival, Vienna, Austria
Hubert Sielecki Preis, Vienna, Austria
Toruń International Puppets Theaters’ Festival, Toruń, Poland
Sopot International Film Festival, Sopot, Poland
Holland Animation Film Festival, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Crossing Europe International Film Festival, Linz, Austria
New Vision International Film Festival, Kiev, Ukraine
National Festival of Polish Animation O!Pla, Poland
Animocje Festival, Bydgoszcz, Poland
Kan Amateur and Independent Film Festival, Wrocław, Poland
<b>publications</b>
/ <i>Nothing left to be saved</i>, photobook, The Hidden Photo, 2018
/ Adbusters #119/2015, #116/2014, #112/2014 / Vancouver, Canada
/ Il Collirio #6/2015 / Naples, Italy
/ Shots Magazine #120/2013 / Minneapolis, MA, USA
/ Creative Quarterly #30-31/2013 / New York, NY, USA
<b>online publications</b>
/ <a href=”http://thehiddenphoto.pl/lucyna-kolendo/” target=”_blank”>The Hidden Photo #36</a>
/ but does it float
/ Bak
/ the door of perception
/ Juxtapoz Magazine
/ Mutantspace
/ thisispaper
<b>workshops</b>
/ 2020 Work Show Grow by Natasha Caruana, online
/ 2019 Erik Kessels at Sputnik Photos, Warsaw, Poland
/ 2019 Sputnik Photos at Günter Grass Gallery, Gdansk, Poland
/ 2018 Doug Dubois at Sputnik Photos, Warsaw, Poland