BRAVELY BREAKING BOUNDARIES

Boldly scampering into the forest at age 5, alone, eager to explore.

The enthusiastic teenaged creator determined to sculpt wood into exquisite pieces of art.

Defiantly exclaiming ‘Checkmate, Checkmate’, she watched boys squirm in their seats, amazed they had been easily vanquished.

And now, painting everything from geishas to mistresses, she moves on, continuing to ‘dream big’, to take risks, and to follow her own limitless path.

That is Kamila Krzyzaniak.

Adventurer, tom boy, chess player, artist, Founder and Editor of Luxury Splash of Art.

Always intent on achieving, pushing herself and boundaries, she somehow found the time to take a few moments to discuss her life, art and hopes.

Her journey from a small Polish town to London is a fascinating one, and it’s just beginning.

Passion Piece: Hello. The response to LSA has been terrific. Could you tell my readers a few words about your early adventures, your being the explorer.

Kamila: I was inquisitive, and I liked trees, so I was always going into the forest against my parents’ wishes. I had to see what was happening in the forest, and my parents never knew what was going on with me. My father had wanted a son, and I was a real tomboy. I was always with boys, but always beating them in sports. I had to win.

Passion Piece: You lived in a small town?

Kamila: Yes, I was born in Jelenia Gora which means Mountain Deer. Later we moved to Kowary in southwestern Poland not far from Wroclaw in the southwestern part of Poland.

Passion Piece: What did your father and mother do?

Kamila: He is a carpenter, and that got me interested in wood carving. My mom a secretary. He is a true craftsman, taking pride in his work. He was an inspiration, so because I was inquisitive, I looked at objects, and wanted to create my own. I loved creating. I did wood sculptures at the State High School of Fine Arts, wood carving which was bas-reliefs and decorative ornaments. I developed the ability to design, make artistic realizations based on models, as well as drawing and photographic documentation. I also used sculptural materials like clay, plaster and wood. That taught me finishing techniques, patina, polychrome, silvering. These lessons really prepared me for my becoming an artist later on.

Passion Piece: You were also a chess player?

Kamila: As a teenager I played a lot of chess. Winning was critical to me. I had to. The chess player in Queen’s Gambit reminds me a little of myself, she is fearless, determined. That is me. My passion is in this magazine, and so I want to make it the best magazine possible. Give life and hope to artists, show them there are opportunities in the world.

I also had a passion for painting in my teens. I painted a lot of horses, I loved them unconditionally. I even thought I would be a veterinarian. But I painted everywhere, even in the hallways in my house. I painted them, my mother was so mad.

Passion Piece: You do very provocative work, whose paintings depict a total freedom of expression. How did your your talent evolve? What’s the most important for you while creating a new piece?

Kamila: Painting is for me a form of therapy that allows me to relax, become detached from reality. Every time it teaches me something new about life, and it also allows me to find distance, peace of mind. Painting has shown me that all knowledge is contained in ourselves and the answers are also within us. It is only when I reach the depths of myself that I can express them, share them with others through my paintings.

I mainly paint women, horses and Abstracts. I use rollers, pedals, brushes, structure plaster paints in a horizontal position on large formats. I use brushes only for mixing paints or for retouching. Also, often I take pictures of my paintings. They help me decide whether the image is ready or needs to be worked on.

Passion Piece: What helps you find inspiration?

Kamila: I shut off, get very relaxed. I close the studio and might do a relaxing workout. To realize something, I extract my space. I also like the silence at the time of creation. Music only resonates when it does technical things. When I paint, I have to be internally focused. I just want to focus on the tools I take in my hand, or on the density of the paint I mix. I do not wait for inspiration, because it is only during work that visual impulses appear. I call it mold pressure, which is the need to realize certain plastic tensions that need to be released. In my opinion, painting is largely technical. This is overcoming the resistance of tools and paint. In order for something to happen, I need to communicate with it.

Passion Piece: Where do you look for your inspiration?

Kamila: I find inspiration in life, everywhere, listening to music, watching a movie or reading a book. Now I am finding inspiration in the wonderful art LSA is honoring. These are wonderful artists who we carefully select to give them opportunities, recognition. I am motivated by the work of living masters and those who have died. I adore Vermeer, and would love to take courses in the Old Masters.

As for me, I use very different structures. It seems to me that if I painted with oil or watercolor, it would be very flat. The image must be… tangible. While I was still studying, I tried to paint with oil, but from the very beginning I could not help but diversify the surface. So, I scratched in the paint, glued different things to the canvas. This is a mixed technique. I have always been fascinated by Pompeii frescoes with their texture. The rough, matte places in my paintings were made exactly like frescoes. It is lime mixed with color, applied with a putty. Frescoes are made on wet lime – that’s the difference. But I also work in layers. I translate layers of lime with a layer of wax mixed with paint. There’s a lot of randomness in it. A mystery.

Passion Piece: Who are your favorite subjects?

Kamila: Women! Women are far more attractive than men to paint and sculpt. Their bodies and curves are lovely, like beautiful drapes, the sky- their bodies are very sensuous. This does not mean that I prefer women over my male partner. Yet I do like, from an artistic perspective, that I stare at beautiful women. will look after a beautiful woman. After all, It was not me who came up with the idea that femininity is synonymous with tenderness, grace, subtlety, mystery and temptation, contradiction, weakness and strength, submission and savagery. Most of my work embodies the female consciousness and its value on the planet today.

Passion Piece: You value women, and their thoughts, but are women treated as equals to men in the art world, in publishing?

Kamila: Definitely not! We must always prove ourselves. When I left school, and was working in Belgium, this very important position which gave me a Porsche at age 27, everyone thought I was working at some escort service, this sexual…..There is definitely an imbalance…I was always asked sexist questions. I always had to prove myself. Now men and women just have to show their talent, and they will be appreciated in LSA. I don’t want successful women to be asked, ‘are you in an escort service?’

Passion Piece: Where can we admire your works? Is there a place you’d like to find yourself one day?

Kamila: During the Pandemic, art exhibits are cancelled. But my work can be seen on my kamilakart.com website. I want to travel, see Colorado, and the art colony in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It would be great to be exhibited there.

Passion Piece: Could you tell us a little about this online magazine?

Kamila: I wanted to show artists, their genius, their wizardry. Luxury Splash of Art gives readers a new point of view. Art is not only paintings, it is about creation. We are a creation and creator at the same time, art is in everything …. This wasn’t being emphasized in magazines. Instead of only focusing on marquee names, we are also picturing photographers, dancers, cooks, writers… Many types of creators should be noticed, people who are undiscovered now, but will be in the near future. We are also discussing trends, reviewing exhibitions, discussing the glamour in the art world, and also revealing its secrets, less than glamorous side.

Passion Piece: What else do you do to advocate art?

Kamila: I attend art competitions, exhibitions, and fairs. Right now I am dedicated to making LSA the leading art magazine in the world, the publication that celebrates the creative spirit, whether that spirit is in wineries, restaurants, watch making ateliers, photography studios, wherever. Art is the best of life.

Passion Piece: Why are you so passionate about creation?

Kamila: Art is imagination, whether it is found in wood carvings, making the right chess move, or reading a book by Agatha Christie. The imagination is my dreamscape, what gives rise to the geishas I am painting, or imagining my staying at a castle in France, a villa in Tuscany. I imagine, so I can live. It is magic.

Passion Piece: Thank you for this discussion. But I must ask, what final advice would you like to share with readers?

Kamila: Don’t ever hesitate. If you are offered a seat on a spaceship, like Sheryl Sandberg said, just get in. Immediately!

See you around!

Yours,

Passion Piece

Photos by: Kamila Krzyzaniak