Malwina Niespodziewana (b.1972), Figure, 2003

Linocut. Dimensions: 100 x 34,5 cm, 100 x 70 cm
Limited edition: 11/30
Hand signature, in pencil, p.d.: M. Niespodziewana

Malwina Niespodziewana - a graduate of the Faculty of Graphic Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow. She completed her diploma in 1998 in Prof. Stanisław Wejman's studio (Ceremonies), receiving an honorable mention and the Rector's Medal. She received her Doctor of Fine Arts degree from the same university in 2007. The supervisor of her doctoral dissertation (The Body. The Artistic Concept of the Universal Body) was Prof. Jacek Gaj.

She lives and works in Cracow.

Graphic artist, author of spatial and video installations, author of the artistic concept of the universal body. In her works she combines various artistic techniques - graphics, art book and installation. The body remains a constant point of reference in her work: physiology, gender, symbolism and rituals that different cultures associate with the body (such as tattooing), as well as the history of body representations (the artist is inspired by ancient anatomical atlases, among others). As Magdalena Ujma writes "...the main theme and the main motif of Malwina Niespodziewana's work remains the human being. This has been the case from the beginning and in fact there is no deviation from this principle. The artist remains faithful to her greatest passion, her greatest interest, perhaps even her obsession - the figure and figuration."

An important part of her work is the diary she has been writing for many years, as well as the art trips she has taken (especially to the Far East).

The artist is the recipient of many awards and prizes, including the Scholarship of the Minister of Culture and Art (1997/98), Scholarship: Mythological Europe Revisited, Borgo della Fratta, Italy (1998), Creative Scholarship of the City of Cracow (1999), Grand Prix International Biennial of Graphics of The Baltic Sea Countries Kaliningrad - Königsberg, Russia (2005). In 2002, she was nominated for the D. Chodowiecki Award Competition.

Her works have been presented in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Poland, Germany, Austria, France, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, Spain, Slovenia, Italy, Russia, USA, Czech Republic, Korea and Japan. They can be found in the collections of the National Museum in Cracow, Museum of Paper, Mino Kanagawa Prefectual Gallery (Kanagawa, Japan), Uppsala Art Museum (Uppsala, Sweden), Polish Museum of America, (Chicago, USA), Kaliningrad Art Gallery, (Kaliningrad, Russia), Cabinet of Graphics & Drawing, Cremona Civic Museum (Italy), as well as in many private collections in Poland and abroad.