Marek Świątek

Year of birth: 1996.
Where do you live: Hamburg, Germany.
Your education: Master of Fine Arts. Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław (Poland), specializing in painting.
Describe your art in three words: Analysis, Humanity, Deconstruction.
Your discipline: Painting, drawing, digital art, and all combined.
Website | Instagram

Your artworks depict characters losing their identity and becoming shapeless. What led you to explore this theme, and how do you see it connected to the broader human experience?

This theme came into my work quite naturally, as if fate (yes, I believe in fate) wanted me to fully immerse myself in it. I’ve always been interested in human nature and how it changes over time. The more I explored this subject, the more I began to see different layers inside all of us—layers of emotions and outside influences that we often hide to avoid showing them to others. The result of hiding these feelings in the figures I paint is the loss of their identity and their deformation. Looking at my surroundings, especially in today’s world of fast-developing technology and social media, I see people slowly merging into one homogenous, shapeless mass. It’s a bit like mixing all the colors of the rainbow—you just end up with a dull brown in the end.

Marek Świątek | Wiktoria II

In your artist statement, you mention that your works are a form of self-portraiture and analysis. How has this process of introspection shaped your understanding of yourself as both an individual and an artist?

As I mentioned earlier, I’ve always been intrigued by human nature in my creative work. Naturally, the starting point for exploring this theme was to begin by analyzing myself. After all, how can we begin to evaluate others without fully knowing who we are and why we exist? As a result, one of my first tasks as a young artist was to analyze myself as an individual and a human being. It was a kind of self-therapy. Rather destructive, but in the end, very effective. This self-analysis continues to this day. 

I’m a natural overthinker, so it was important for me to find a way to deal with the excess of intrusive thoughts. This creative therapy has allowed me to learn how to cope with my own self, with my fears and the struggles of everyday life. Introspection has helped me understand how to silence the inner screams in my head. And as we know, artists, in particular, often have many of those.

Marek Świątek | Malgorzata

You studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław. How did your education there influence your style and artistic philosophy?

This is a very interesting question! On one hand, my five years at the Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław were a lifesaver for me. As a lost teenager, I bet everything on my passion for art and jumped into the unknown. The Academy allowed me to explore the world of art from the inside and experiment with many different techniques, from painting to digital art, ceramics, street art, and sculpture. Over the years, I realized that oil paint on canvas is the most important part of my work. I learned how to master this technique and present my work to a wider audience. It was also my first time dealing with criticism in different forms, which taught me that the life of an artist is not always as smooth and easy as you think.

On the other hand, I often felt like an outsider trying to fit into what professors and other students expected of me. The strict discipline and academic style didn’t quite match my very graphic and literal way of showing the world and portraits. I often felt trapped, unable to express the world the way I really saw it. Finishing my studies was a turning point in my personal growth. Only then did I feel completely free. The world opened up before me.

Your paintings often depict convulsive, distorted forms. What emotions or messages are you hoping to convey through these visual distortions?

My first thought was the questions: Hey, do you see yourself in this painting? Do you feel the pain? Do you feel like you’re not fully yourself? Do you notice the mask you wear every day? Do you feel like your body is melting and deforming under this mask? Now is the time to do something about it. Now is the time to turn those demons inside you into a strength that can change your life. 

The goal of my paintings is not to make the viewer feel depressed. The goal is to give them the courage to face the next day in a better way.

Marek Świątek | Magdalena III

How has working as a graphic designer at a leading music label influenced your analog art? Do you find intersections between your graphic design work and your painting?

Starting a full-time job as a graphic designer was a complete game changer for me. My experience in digital art was minimal up until then, but now I can’t imagine creating without it. It has become an extension of my hand, where my paint and canvas transform into pixels, entering a new dimension.

When it comes to my personal work, I often use the traditional paintings I’ve created as a base for digital experiments. I transform them into collages, posters, album covers, adding new layers of meaning. And these experiments (with digital media offering unlimited possibilities) allow me to take my creativity to new levels.

In my professional work, I have the opportunity to create album covers and entire album packaging for music artists known worldwide. This aspect helps me reach a wider audience and showcase my skills to people from different parts of the world. It’s made me realize that I don’t have to limit myself to just one medium, and that digital art has evidently always been a part of my DNA.

Your artworks seem to express a struggle with identity and existence. What role does this struggle play in your creative process?

I think we all have inner demons that torment us every day. They could be mental health problems, depression, aggression, relationship issues, self-harm, addictions, or losing ourselves in the digital world—the list goes on. My creative process is a conversation with these demons. It’s an attempt to understand them and ease our relationship. Ignoring these feelings only leads to self-destruction. I hope that when people look at my paintings, they realize that sometimes it’s worth analyzing ourselves. Even though it can be an uncomfortable and painful experience, in the end, it can only bring positive outcomes.

Marek Świątek | Magdalena IV

What feedback do you receive most often? How do people perceive your art? 

The first reaction people usually have is a combination of disgust and typical human curiosity. A bit like seeing a roadkill on the street. On the one hand, you don’t want to look, but your subconscious automatically draws your eyes there, even though you know what you’ll see. There’s a strange feeling of sadness mixed with disgust. In the end, I often hear that my work is appreciated, but probably won’t end up on the walls of too many homes—it’s likely too drastic for that.

Some people, however, start sharing their own life experiences, telling me that in those deformed, inhuman faces, they see themselves. Years ago, I had a brief conversation with a woman who told me she had been in an abusive relationship with a man who had often physically harmed her. After each incident, she felt as though her skin had been turned inside out, just like in my painting. She wasn’t herself in her own body. This made me realize that people can indeed find themselves in the portraits I paint. This is definitely the powerful impact they [paintings] carry.