About
My name is Agnieszka ‘Uisce’ Jakubczyk and I am a fibre artist and art teacher from Poland, living in Ireland since 2004. I am a member of CTA Ireland (Contemporary Tapestry Artists Ireland) and VAI (Visual Artists Ireland). My textile art has been exhibited in group exhibitions in Poland, Ireland, Hungary, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania and Taiwan. My first solo exhibition was on display at the Séamus Ennis Art Centre in Naul, County Dublin between 3rd of August – 3rd of October 2022. You can see the catalogue of the exhibition here:
https://issuu.com/colettepaulalawless/docs/uisce_a._jakubczyk
I am a recipient of several awards. My main focus is on minimal woven art and also medieval styles, techniques and images in embroidery. Recently I started working with paper art which became an important stream of my creations.
I graduated from People’s University in Turno, Poland, in 1992, with a qualification of journeyman in artistic weaving. I abandoned weaving for a while and studied music performance and musicology.
Several years after moving to Ireland I started practicing the art of medieval style embroidery and later on I became a teacher of adult education classes and a variety of fibre arts workshops.
Inspired by my students’ enthusiasm and creations I started weaving again in 2015. My woven pieces were selected for various group exhibitions and I received my first award already in 2016, which encouraged me to explore the art of weaving further.
In 2018 I took part in a two-day workshop of paper making with Tunde Toth which opened a new avenue of my creative journey. While at a Finnish art residency at Arteles in December 2018, I focused entirely on working in experimental paper art.
In 2021 I wove my first commissioned piece: a large-scale work for Fingal County Council, under the Creative Ireland Programme – the Women of Fingal Tapestry, which is at present on display at Swords Castle.
I was a participant of art residencies at Arteles Creative Center in Finland in summer 2017 and winter 2018. in December 2022/January 2023 I attended the Ós Textile Residency at the Icelandic Textile Center, Blönduós (December 2022/January 2023).
I am an OPW seasonal guide at Brú na Bóinne UNESCO Heritage Site. I teach embroidery courses at Malahide Community School, North County Dublin.
Artist’s Statement
At the beginning of my creative practice I was expressing my fascination with the harmony of natural forms: the lines of landscape, macro and micro structures, ethereal forms of water, wind and light, process of growth and decay. Later I started using my creations as narratives, as I was focusing on communicating through a language of visual symbols about issues touching the human being as an individual and as a part of society. My particular interest is undertaking ecological, social and mental health issues as subjects in art. For this reason, I am searching for common symbols as well as developing my own language of symbols. Symbolism is a subtle tool – many symbols can reach and be understood by people in an emotional as well as intellectual way, framed by their own individual experience. This is important for bridging our natural differences. I believe such symbols have much more potential for conveying subtle messages than our spoken/written language.
I am inclined to use natural materials (paper, animal and plant fibres) and to include up-cycled materials, which are not normally considered valuable, I am interested in the process and results of transforming something unimportant, even ugly, into beautiful, harmonious and evocative pieces.
Currently my art practice is focused on weaving and paper art. Very recently my interest shifted towards various codes and also an idea of The Matrix! I am developing a concept for large scale Matrix-related projects, possibly combining weaving with other visual effects and sound.
Awards And Other Achievements
-Ós Textile Residency at the Icelandic Textile Center, Blönduós, Iceland (December 2022/January 2023)
– Fingal County Council Artist’s Support Scheme 2022, Residency/Travel Award
-3rd Place Award at the post-residency exhibition of the 46th Fiber Art Festival & International Symposium Creative Workshop – Kowary’19 in Kowary, Poland (2020)
-Textile Art Residency at The 46th Fiber Art Festival & International Symposium Creative Workshop – Kowary’19 in Kowary, Poland (2019)
-Fingal County Council’s Artists’ Support Scheme 2019, Bursary
-Certificate of Excellence 2018, Arts & Crafts Design Award
-Arts Council of Ireland, Travel & Training Award (2018)
-Silence Awareness Existence Art Residency at Arteles Creative Centre, Haukijärvi, Finland (December 2018)
-Prize winner at the 10th International Artistic Linen Cloth Biennial in Krosno, Poland, 2018
-Freedom for Creativity Art Residency at Arteles Creative Centre, Haukijärvi, Finland (July/August 2017)
-Akapi Foundation Award at the 9th International Artistic Linen Cloth Biennial in Krosno, Poland, 2016
Solo Exhibition
– “9 Accents” and “14 Days” (2 series of experimental paper and fibre art miniatures), and some medium scale woven works – at The Séamus Ennis Art Centre in Naul, County Dublin between 3rd of August – 3rd of October 2022.
Group Exhibitions
-2023 “Slow Time with a Butterfly” at Pearse Museum, Dublin, from 6th September until 5th of November 2023. Woven Tapestry Exhibition by members of CTA Ireland (Contemporary Tapestry Artists Ireland).
-2020, BIAMT 2020, International Biennial of Miniature Arts Timisoara, on-line exhibition launched on the 26th November 2020
-September – November 2020, post-residency exhibition of the 46th Fiber Art Festival & International Symposium Creative Workshop – Kowary’19 in Kowary, Poland (2019) at The Museum of Weaving in Kamienna Góra, Poland
-2018/2019, the 10th International Artistic Linen Cloth Biennial, Biuro Wystaw Artystycznych (BWA) in Krosno, Poland (also exhibited in Slovakia and Hungary)
-2017/2018, International Biennial PAPER FIBER ART 2017/18, Taiwan, organised by the Association Chaîne de Papier, France (theme: ECO-SUBLIME)
-2017/2018, the 8th International Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary Mini Textile Art “Scythia” 2017, Ukraine
-2016/2017, the 9th International Artistic Linen Cloth Biennial, Biuro Wystaw Artystycznych (BWA) in Krosno, Poland (shown also in Hungary)
-2016/2017, the 1st Exhibition of Miniature Tapestries ‘20×20’ (Przegląd Tkaniny Unikatowej ‘20×20’), Poland