Known for her methodical approach and immersive visual language, Irmina Staś constructs a symbolic vocabulary within decorative forms, exploring themes such as resemblance, repetition, and the interdependence of flora and fauna. Her work reflects on the fragility of life and an intuitive awareness of mortality, while also addressing dominance and violence.
Chlorophyll and Blood, her long-term painting series now reaching its 40th work, will be unveiled during the Impact 2025 conference. The 10th edition of the largest economic and technological conference in the CEE region will take place on May 14-15, 2025, in Poznań. 650 speakers will explore a variety of over 20 thematic paths – from Digital Future and Industry 5.0 to Mental Health & Wellbeing and Culture. The latter is set to delve into the emerging trends and new forms of artistic expression, the impact of AI on creative industries, adapting museums to the Digital Era, and more.
In conversation with Contemporary Lynx, Irmina Staś shares insights into her creative process, the influence of nature on her practice, and the philosophical depth woven into Chlorophyll and Blood No. 40.
Monika Juskowiak: You are preparing a special piece from your expanded series Chlorophyll and Blood for Impact 2025. What can attendees expect to experience when they encounter your work?
Irmina Staś: I was invited to create a work for Impact 2025, but it wasn’t a typical commission. The idea was to present something I’m currently working on – something fresh and new. This kind of invitation is a real gift for an artist: on one hand, it gives you total freedom, and on the other, it’s a sign of trust, a belief that what you deliver will stand on its own. Since the event takes place in May, I’ll be showing a painting I began at the start of the year. So, attendees will be able to experience something directly from my studio, reflective of my current artistic practice. That practice is quite specific and methodical, as I tend to work in extended series that evolve over several years. Since 2020, I’ve been developing the Chlorophyll and Blood cycle, and the piece shown at Impact 2025 will be the 40th work in the series.
“The works in the Chlorophyll and Blood series marry painterly freedom with the ordered precision of ornament, creating rhythms and scales that blend form with what’s existential.”
— Irmina Staś
MJ: Tell us more about the series. What were the core inspirations behind creating Chlorophyll and Blood?
IS: Nature, the organic world, and its rhythms and repetitions are always my fundamental inspirations. I juxtapose uniform botanical and animal forms, placing them in contact with one another so they form a kind of ornament. From these rigorously structured organic shapes, a repeated pattern emerges. With the monumental scale of the canvases, these patterns begin to resemble architectural friezes or textiles. I intend to create an immersive experience where one feels surrounded by painting.
Within these decorative forms, I embed a symbolic vocabulary exploring themes such as resemblance, repetition, integrity, the interdependence of plants and animals, as well as ideas of will, impermanence, the fragility of life, and an intuitive sense of the end of existence, alongside themes of dominance and violence. The works in the Chlorophyll and Blood series marry painterly freedom with the ordered precision of ornament, creating rhythms and scales that blend form with what’s existential.
MJ: I was wondering, when creating a work specifically for an event like the Impact conference, does your approach to the creative process shift in any way compared to your usual practice?
IS: There’s definitely a kind of enthusiasm – even excitement – that comes with creating a single piece that will soon be shared publicly. When preparing a solo exhibition, there’s always room for selection or revision – you can choose to exclude a piece or change the concept. And when a work is sold to a collection, the buyer selects from existing pieces. But Impact asked me to create a new painting. Thankfully, the nature of the invitation, with its only condition being that the work be recent, helped ease any pressure. I could continue working at my own pace, using my preferred format and themes that I’m already developing across other canvases. It allowed me to stay rooted in my own process, which is crucial.
MJ: What emotional or intellectual response are you hoping to evoke in the audience through your 40th work?
IS: Chlorophyll and Blood No. 40 is constructed from the motifs of breasts and flowers. In my visual language, breasts symbolise life, fertility, and the continuation of the species. Flowers represent the plant world, nature, and the Earth. I bring these motifs into confrontation on the canvas to highlight the interdependence between the plant and animal kingdoms. I want to spark reflection on the fragility of existence, while also evoking ideas of care, tenderness, and closeness.
MJ: So, your work explores the connection between the natural world and human emotion or identity?
IS: My work explores relationships and dependencies within the natural world. I believe that human emotions and identity are an integral part of this ecosystem. I place motifs symbolising humans, animals, and plants side by side, giving each equal space on the canvas to emphasise their equivalency. Through my painting, I want to draw attention to the subjectivity of perspective, to how scale influences perception, and most of all, to the constant uncertainty that can provoke fear, but also often brings hope. It’s that uncertainty that drives growth and, ultimately, life itself.
“The routine and monotony of my creative process provide me with a sense of continuity.”
— Irmina Staś
MJ: And what fuels your artistic vision?
IS: The routine and monotony of my creative process provide me with a sense of continuity. When I’m in my steady work rhythm, paintings seem to form in my mind almost involuntarily. Often, while working on one canvas, my thoughts are already drifting to the next, since many of my pieces are variations on a theme. A single motif demands exploration across many works, and until I’ve fully worked through all its iterations, I feel a sense of restlessness. That restlessness is what drives me to keep creating.
Impact 2025
May 14-15, 2025
Poznań, Poland
BIO:
Irmina Staś – a painter, author of spatial artworks that fit within the formula of painting. A lecturer at the Faculty of Media Art of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. She has presented her works at solo exhibitions at the Foksal Gallery, Miejsce Projektów Zachęty, the Le Guern Gallery, Galeria Wizytująca, the BWA Bielska Gallery in Bielsko-Biała, the BWA in Zielona Góra, the Municipal Art Centre in Gorzów Wielkopolski, and the STRABAG Kunstforum in Vienna. She has participated in many group exhibitions in Poland and abroad. The artist’s works can be found in the collections of, among others, the Arsenal Gallery in Białystok, the National Museum in Gdańsk, the BWA Bielska Gallery in Bielsko-Biała, the Museum of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, the Art Collection of PKO Bank Polski in Warsaw, and STRABAG Kunstforum. She is the recipient of the Scholarship of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage (2015, 2019, 2024), Strabag Artaward International (2013), the Art Prize of the University of Arts in Poznań, Nowy Obraz / Nowe Spojrzenie 2013. The artist is represented by Le Guern Gallery in Warsaw.
