About - Katarzyna Łyszkowska

Thesis by Katarzyna Łyszkowska: INNER-OUT. Transgression Inspiration Interpretation.

STATEMENT:
My practice is based on careful, personal observations, which I analyze in a broader, global social context, giving them the dimension of a universal platform for the exchange of experiences. I create a kind of participatory chronicle that is both a testimony to the era and a tool for deeper self-knowledge. I focus on what really affects my personal and social life. I often present art in spaces outside the traditional gallery circuit in order to familiarize not only conscious audiences with it.

BIO:
Katarzyna Łyszkowska (aka Łyszka) is an interdisciplinary artist with a sociological bent and a researcher at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, where she currently works as an academic professor. . She is a member of the City of Toruń Revitalization Committee and the Artsylum Foundation (TA.FUNDATION)

She has participated in over 200 exhibitions and artistic events in Germany, Great Britain, Finland, Norway, Italy, Slovenia, Macedonia, Greece, Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, India, South Korea, and the USA. Her works are included in international collections such as the Osten Biennial in Macedonia, the Lucca Biennale Cartasia in Italy, The Morgan Conservatory in the USA, Kala Bhavana in Santiniketan, India, and national permanent art collections, including the Warmian-Masurian Province branch of Zachęta, the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Province, CSW “Znaki Czasu,” the Artus Court Cultural Center, and WOAK in Toruń, and the Women’s Rights Center in Gdańsk.

She has participated in ten artistic residencies related to place identity and international interdisciplinary projects. She is a scholarship holder of the departments of culture and European funds (KPO for Culture), NCBR, the Centre of Polish Sculpture in Orońsko, the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, and international institutions, including Driving Urban Transitions – Sustainable Future for Cities (EU), Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung e. V., Goethe-Institut, Libken e.V. (DE), Culture Moves Europe, and Windgate Foundation (USA).

Her practice is characterized by a balanced approach to making art from biodegradable and recycled materials, which she uses in drawings, objects, and installations made from paper and experilental pulp, among other things, while also using found objects and materials in the spirit of zero waste. Digital techniques and recordings expand the narrative of her work, offering the possibility of both objective documentation and subjective audiovisual experiments.

[distinctions]

2026 – scholarship winner of the Marshal of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Province.
2026 – Scholarship winner of the National Reconstruction and Resilience Plan (KPO) – component Resilience and competitiveness of the economy, investment A2.5.1: Program to support the activities of entities in the cultural sector and creative industries to stimulate their development.
2025 – First-degree Group Scientific Award of the Rector of NCU for the DUT_Conifer project
2025 – Scholarship from the Rector of the NCU for artistic achievement 2024.
2025 – The Adam Mickiewicz Institute Scholarship: ‘Polish Culture in the World’ Adam Mickiewicz Institute
2025 – Morgan Art of Papermaking Conservatory & Educational the Windgate Foundation fellowship.1 month of Morgan’s Artist in Residence (AiR) Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
Libken grant residency scholarships “into the fields” supported by Culture Moves Europe, Goethe Institut.
2025 – Scholarship from the Rector of the Nicolaus Copernicus University for artistic achievement 2024.
2024 – Finalist for The Mother’s Milk Art residency, in KS USA.
2024 – Indoor/Fashion/Performance/Videoarte Finalist of Biennale Cartasia International Paper Art Biennial – LUBICA, Toscany, Italy.
2024 – Outdoor Competition Award 2024, Lucca Biennale Cartasia Toscany, Italy.
2023 – artistic scholarship of the City Council of Toruń.
2023 – individual distinction of the Rector of the Nicolaus Copernicus University for artistic achievements.
2022 – individual distinction of the Rector of the Nicolaus Copernicus University for artistic achievements.
2021 – La Pinacothèque certificate of artistic merit for the 2021 Luxembourg Art Prize.
2021 – Art scholarship of the Marshal of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship.
2021 – individual distinction of the Rector of the Nicolaus Copernicus University for artistic achievements.
2021 – NCU Rector’s team distinction for artistic achievement.
2021 – Grant from the program of the Center for Polish Sculpture in Orońsko “Sculpture in Public Space for the Independent – 2021” – Airship Freedom, in cooperation with the Dwór Artus Cultural Center.
2021 – 1^st Place in the art competition „Time for Women’s Rights” – Center for Women’s Rights in Gdansk.
2021 – Special Award by the Jury of the Osten Biennial of Drawing Skopje 2020, Macedonia.
2021 – Finalist of 12^th University of North Carolina Asheville’s Drawing Discourse juried international exhibition of contemporary drawing Asheville, USA.
2019 – The Rector of the NCU Individual distinction for artistic achievements.
2019 – The Rector of the NCU Group distinction for organizational activity.
2018 – Distinction at the 11^th International Billboard Art Festival ART MOVES.
2018 – Finalist in the 9th International Biennial of Paper Art LUCCABIENNALE section INDOOR.
2017 – Team distnction of the Chancellor of NCU in Toruń.
2016 – Art scholarship of the Marshal of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie region.
2016 – Art scholarship of the Olsztyn City Council.
2014 – Gdańsk – Finalist at the 9th editon of The FILM AND FORM FESTIVAL “THE ONE MINUTES” Nadbałtyckie Centrum Kultury.
2013 – Art scholarship of the Marshal of the Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship.
2013 – GRAND PRIX – VIII Olsztyn Art Biennale for the President’s Medal-BWA Olsztyn.
2011 – distinction for the best non-governmental initiative, granted by the Mayor of Olsztyn.
2008 – 1^st place awarded by the audience for The Best Art Diploma of 2007”. Wozownia Gallery.
2007 – 2^nd place in the Modern Art Exhibiton POLYGONUM – BWA Bydgoszcz.
2005 – Distinction in the ”Inspired Quality” absorbing young talents WizyTUjąca Gallery.

[permanent collections]

2025 – work in the permanent collection at the Morgan Conservatory, Cleveland, U.S.
2024 – work in the collection of the Lucca Biennale Cartasia in Italy.
2023 – work in the collection of the Provincial Center for Cultural Animation in Toruń.
2021 – works in the collection of the Artus Court Cultural Center in Torun.
2021 – work in the collection of Center for Women’s Rights in Gdansk.
2020 – works in the collection of the Museum of Drawing in Macedonia, Skopje.
2014 – the permanent art collecton of Warmińsko-Mazurskie voivodeship – Zachęta branch.
2011 – film collection of National Audiovisual Institute NInA.
2008 – the permanent art collecton of Kujawsko-Pomorskie voivodeship at „Znaki Czasu” Center Of Contemporary Art in Torun.

[residences]

2025 – Morgan’s Artist in Residence (AiR) month-long artist residency Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
2025 – two-months artist residency scholarship „into the fields” by Libken V.n. grant: Culture Moves Europe, Goethe Institut in Germany.
2024 – One-month artist residency duringThe Mother’s Milk Art, KS, USA.
2024 – One-month artist residency during the 20th anniversary of the Lucca Biennale Cartasia International Paper Art Biennial – LUBICA, Tuscany, Italy.
2024 – Erasmus+ Plato Bauhaus/University of Ostrava, Czech Republic.
2022 – Participation in the International Artist Residency „Experiencing Modernity. Between Utopia and Anti-utopia” at the Culture Park in Starachowice.
2018-2019 – Art Residency – Studio of Socially Engaged Art “Rewiry” Cultural Center in Lublin.
2016 – CYBER ACADEMY – an international project. Wrocław – Barbara Center; Katowice – Silesian Museum; Warsaw – National Audiovisual Institute.
2014 – Watch, THINK, CHANGE, BE. Erazmus+, Animavita, Osilnica, Slovenia.
2012-2014 – SilesiaTopia, a Polish-German project Zabrze, Berlin, Katowice. Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung.
2011 – Experyment DE-PL, a Polish-German project. Warsaw, Zgorzelec – Gerlitz, Berlin. Goethe-Institut.
2009 – EROC – European Regions of Culture; Toruń, PL – CoCA; Lapua, Finland – Cultural Centre Paukku; Falmouth, UK – Falmouth University, The Polly Gallery.