Katarzyna Kukuła grew up in Kolonia Cieśle — a green area incorporated into Sosnowiec. Ever since she can remember, her home has been the forest, from where she drew her inspiration and peace of mind. From a young age, her mother had heard that she was a painter born. From a combination of accidents and her decisions, she ended up at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. In 2012, she graduated with honours from the Academy and won the Rectors’ Award for the Best Diploma of the Academy of Fine Arts 2012 in Gdańsk.
Thus began Kasia Kukuła’s journey inwards, into herself. Once down, once up, but invariably forward. She has participated in many exhibitions in Poland and abroad, including “Paint means blood” at the MSN in Warsaw, ‘Licht, Luft, Scheisse’ at the Botanical Museum in Berlin, and ‘The Feminal [Feminał]’ at the Nuremberg House in Krakow as well as the Gunter Grass Municipal Art Gallery in Gdańsk. In 2017, she won three awards at the 43rd Bielska Jesień Biennale. She ended the year 2019 with the Mari Anto and Elsa von Freytag Loringhoven Award for Young Polish Artist for Courage and Breaking Boundaries.
At her studio in Częstochowa, she meets her two faces. One is Kasia, sweet and charming, she paints “beautiful” paintings about love and unity. The other face is Katarzyna, she is strong and courageous, and she breaks boundaries. Katarzyna paints “ugly” paintings about madness, death and the dark nature of man. They both form the ‘Shut up’ collective with Sandra Bąk.
