Iga Bielawska x Balans

Iga Bielawska is a figurative painter based in London who studied at Central Saint Martins. Her powerful yet intimate artworks have a distinct and profound aura around them.

Two of Iga Bielawska’s works are currently exhibited in Balans No.60 (click the above to see in more detail) and are available for sale if you contact Iga directly igabielawska7@gmail.com. We had a quick chat with Iga to find out a little more about her work.

Tell us a bit about you as an artist and your ambitions?

I’m a figurative oil painter that regularly addresses the notion of the female gaze through exploration of female agency and sexuality. I’ve always known I wanted to be a creative and I’m hoping to be able to live off my paintings in the future with my works/exhibitions all around the world.

What is the inspiration for your paintings?

I find inspiration for my paintings in various places and often work from found images. I draw from my experience as a queer woman by using found images and recreating them through a soft, intimate lens. By exploring numerous female identities and perspectives I  tell a visual story of the female experience separate from the heteropatriarchal male gaze. Following centuries of objectification in depictions of women, I aim to reframe the representation of female figures in a way that is most comfortable to me and free from gendered voyeurism and spectatorship.

How has your style developed?

It took a while for me to find my own personal style but I think eventually it just came to me naturally. I regularly paint women in various domestic settings or intimate spaces, allowing them to comfortably showcase their identities while being the active narrators of these portraits. I enjoy exploring queer relationships and the comfortable, intimate environment that only women can provide which I often establish through composition and reinforce by the exploration of colour, brush strokes and setting. The warmth can always be felt through tones such as reds and browns married with soft, airbrush-like textures. 

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We highly recommend you follow Iga’s work on Instagram @igabielawskaart