Iwona Kmiec is a Polish-Canadian visual artist based in Toronto. She gained her art education credentials in Poland and Canada. Iwona studied Interior Architecture and Interior Design (MFA, 2012) at the Fine Arts Academy in Gdansk, Poland, and Environmental Design (Diploma, 1990) at the Ontario College of Art (now OCAD University), in Toronto, Canada.
ABOUT ME
There is a number of well known people who share with me several features and one common denominator: birthday, August 6th. All of them were great practitioners of their arts whom I deeply admire.
I am allergic to penicillin but am thankful to Scottish biologist, physician, microbiologist and pharmacist, Nobel price winner (1945) Alexander Fleming for being an inventor of such an important medicine and a diligent discovery practitioner.
Humour and life comedy belong to my favourite TV shows. As an American actress Lucille Ball, whose wits and character in “I Love Lucy” I consider phenomenal and can only imagine how much Lucille had to practice her lines in order to talk back the way she did.…
My Eastern European roots are similar to an artist, director and producer Andy Warhol. We share interests in Pop Art and good time with friends but in my case I attend parties which are not as big and wild as Andy’s… His repetitive art practice made a huge impact on the art world. Observing and making it’s a lesson from Andy.
My interests in colour, light, and out of the frame explorations make me fall into art of British painter Howard Hodgkin’s, whom I admire. He was a great practitioner of watching sunsets and feeling colours, and got fluent at that by expressing it in his beautiful art.
I get inspired by Nature and love outdoor sports as Polish ski jumper Wojtek Fortuna, Gold Olympic medalist from Tokyo. Although, he never repeated his glorious jump, but he practiced enough to reach the hight of the gold. Personally, I would never even try this sport, but can imagine flying on skis and marvel the mountains from above in my mind.
Finally, I love music and quiet songs of Elliot Smith, American singer and songwriter, and feel sorry that he did not find his life worth living…and that inspires me to practicing joy.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
I am on a mission to capture joy by rendering enduring scents. Inspired by nature and personal experience, I use sense of smell as a metaphor for my work and apply this feature as life’s bonding factor.
Contact Information
Website:
Instagram: @iekmiec_visual_scent_art