Katarzyna Krakowiak – Bałka
Katarzyna Krakowiak (born 1980)
Katarzyna Krakowiak has quickly established herself as a significant figure in the arts. Her versatile creative practice includes sculptures, performances, objects, and expansive compositions, with a particular emphasis on sound installations that explore the languages of architecture. Her innovative “talking walls” project garnered her a special distinction at the 2012 Venice Biennale of Architecture. Krakowiak is also known for her socially engaged artworks, drawing large, diverse groups into her projects. Notable among these is a sound sculpture created for the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion in Barcelona (2020), where she incorporated personally recorded voices from around the globe.
Additionally, her installations often feature professional singers producing complex, insect-like sounds, as showcased at the Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume in Paris (2022), and sounds mimicking cleaning activities, which will be presented at the Zachęta National Gallery of Art in Warsaw (March 2024). Each of Krakowiak’s projects is deeply embedded in its social milieu and involves thorough research into the functional history of the buildings where her works are staged. More recently, she has ventured into designing stage settings and contributing to the decor of luxurious building interiors, where she experiments with new materials such as glass to broaden her artistic expression.
Krakowiak’s recent explorations include elements of Japanese culture, such as ikebana, silk, and origami. She is creatively adapting these traditional practices to fashion, notably in designs like pleated skirts by Chanel, transforming stiffened silk into unique and original art pieces. An exhibition of her work is scheduled for Tokyo in the autumn of 2024.