Collection: Jan Chmielewski

I was born at a very young age in Koszalin on Dzierżęcinka in Poland. I’ve been drawing since I can remember. If not creating, I would be lying on the floor in my room browsing comic books and art albums.

I’m pretty sure I got my sensibilities early on from close contact with nature - solo fishing trips to a local river, sailing in Masurian Lakes, wild mushroom picking in surrounding forests, having all sorts of fun playing in the snow. 

Eventually, I couldn’t think of any other career than art, so I applied to a school of arts. As much as I enjoyed the painting classes with a great teacher who consolidated my believe and hope to one day become an artist, it swiftly came to light that I’m not academically inclined. After a few years of annoying myself and teachers (and parents), I decided to finish my education. I left for London in the UK, to seek that forever escaping me meaning of life. At first, that amounted to me gaining a BA Hons in Digital Media. 

Juggling numerous jobs never stopped me from painting. 

My inspirations come from literally everywhere -my sailing adventures, forgotten friends, failed marriage, riding my bike, my girlfriend’s efforts to stop me from indulging in bachelorship with total abandon. Regular visits to London galleries are forever first on the list for research and inspiration. While painting, there’s always some heavy metal music or a movie soundtrack in the background. In a moment of rest, I would always find time for a good read, or a movie.

Always struggled to describe my painting style, as I change topics quite often - it  definitely could be called figurative, realism, surrealism , descriptive art….. Human figure was always at the center of my interest - early on I drawn huge inspiration from Polish masters: Jacek Malczewski, Zdzislaw Beksinski, Jerzy Duda-Gracz, this most definitely contributed to my palette being subdued, narrow and somewhat dark….

A great little adventure is happening, and it’s getting bigger with every passing day…