Monika Shaded
Monika Shaded’s artistic practice includes drawing, artist’s books and spatial installations created from paper and textile. Her works are imbued with existential themes expressed in a poetic manner through the use of symbols, signs and associative imagery. In her practice, she often employs ephemeral materials such as paper and textiles, carrying meanings related to fragility, transience and memory.
She is interested in exploring the “ultimate mystery” – that which remains unnamed and escapes full understanding – as well as questions concerning the meaning and motivations of human life.
The artist most often works with paper – a fragile material particularly susceptible to destruction. Its delicacy is further emphasized through processes of dyeing, soaking and layering. The symbolic dimension of her works intertwines with their materiality – phenomena are made visible through objects which at the same time remain simply what they are. Forms such as boats, clouds, gates, banners and flags appear in her works.
monika.shaded@gmail.com
Monika Shaded (b. 1983, Ciechanów, Poland) is a visual artist. She graduated from the Faculty of Art Education at the Magdalena Abakanowicz University of the Arts in Poznań in 2008, completing studies in art criticism and promotion as well as art pedagogy. In the same year, she received her diploma in painting with distinction. In 2013 she obtained a PhD in Fine Arts. She currently works as an assistant professor at the VIII Painting Studio at the University of the Arts Poznań.
She is the recipient of numerous awards and scholarships, including the Second Prize at the 4th International Biennial of Artistic Textile in Poznań and a finalist of the international Lodz Abstract Art Festival (LAAF). She has received scholarships from the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the City of Poznań and the Marshal of the Wielkopolska Region, as well as the Rector’s Award of the University of the Arts Poznań for organizational activity.
Her works have been presented in solo and group exhibitions in Poland, including the Arsenał Municipal Gallery in Poznań, BWA Gallery in Bydgoszcz, BWA Gallery in Piła and Szewska 16 Gallery in Poznań, as well as at festivals such as SLOT Art Festival, FAMA and Poznań Art Week. A full list of exhibitions is available at www.monikashaded.com.
She is also active as a curator, serving as curator of the International Painting Competition of the Three Bridges Foundation (1st–3rd editions), a member of the curatorial team of the Maria Dokowicz Competition for the best diplomas at the University of the Arts Poznań, and curator of the “Serce dla Serca” Gallery at the Cardiology Hospital in Poznań.
Alongside her artistic practice, she is engaged in art education for children, youth and adults. She has collaborated with the National Museum in Poznań and teaches drawing in postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Painting and Drawing at the University of the Arts Poznań.
