Misha Waks’s “Obscured Organisms” at Jaskółka Studio. | Contemporary Lynx

Using creativity as both a mirror and a megaphone for urgent social issues creates art rooted in activism and fuelled by a keen awareness of contemporary events. Misha Waks’s practice bridges art and social engagement, inviting viewers to experience works that challenge, provoke, and inspire. This December, Jaskółka Studio in Warsaw presents Waks’s Obscured Organisms.

Misha Waks, portrait by Kuba Szopka. Courtesy of the artist

The Studio, a dynamic space powered by F5.pl, is designed to foster encounters between artists, audiences, and the broader creative community. Its programme emphasises experimentation, encouraging emerging and established creators to test new ideas, break habitual frameworks, and engage with socially relevant themes. The architecture of the space itself supports this mission: open, flexible, and deliberately unpolished, allowing each exhibition to reshape the interior according to its own narrative. Here, Waks’s practice finds an ideal setting: a space that recognises art not just as aesthetic expression, but as a pulse of contemporary culture and a catalyst for dialogue.

Misha Waks, "Co kombinujesz chłopaku w tę księżycową noc”, acrylic, spray on canvas, 100x80, 2025. Courtesy of the artist — Misha Waks, “Co kombinujesz chłopaku w tę księżycową noc”, acrylic, spray on canvas, 100×80, 2025. Courtesy of the artist

A full transformation towards art and crafts

“I have always created and worked with art, and the ideas I’ve been recording for years have primarily been a source of joy for me”, Misha Waks tells us. “I never treated it as my main profession or a way of making a living. At the same time, many years of working with large corporations gave me a set of skills that now genuinely support my artistic practice”. As such, after spending several years working as a designer for various corporations, Waks made a decisive shift in 2019. He turned fully toward art, treating it as a platform for raising socially significant questions – exploring themes such as ecology, women’s rights, and minority rights, drawing from current events. His pieces have been exhibited in Poland and internationally, alongside artists such as Guerrilla Girls, Nadya Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot, and Swoon.

But his background remains strong in his daily practice, as he “learned how to handle difficult situations, make rational decisions under pressure, and function effectively in high-stress environments”. And add that, “as a result, I am much more resilient today, which makes it easier for me to carry out performative projects or speak publicly about my work”.

Misha Waks, "Mężczyzna z psem”, acrylic, spray on canvas, 150x130cm, 2025. Courtesy of the artist — Misha Waks, “Mężczyzna z psem”, acrylic, spray on canvas, 150x130cm, 2025. Courtesy of the artist

Misha Waks, "Trzej królowie”, acrylic, spray on canvas, 150x130cm, 2025. Courtesy of the artist — Misha Waks, “Trzej królowie”, acrylic, spray on canvas, 150x130cm, 2025. Courtesy of the artist

Misha Waks, "No.24", acrylic, spray on canvas, 150x130cm, 2025. Courtesy of the artist — Misha Waks, “No.24”, acrylic, spray on canvas, 150x130cm, 2025. Courtesy of the artist

Working across painting, sculpture, installation, performance, and video art, Waks creates a multidimensional body of work that is both visually compelling and politically charged. Asked about his process and inspiration, he says that he goes through “different creative phases that are, in a way, connected to the seasons of the year”. So – “In autumn, I enjoy working on paper; in winter and spring, I prefer painting on canvas; and in summer, I tend to focus on sculpture. I’m not sure where this comes from, but I’ve recently noticed this pattern. Meanwhile, ideas for performative actions or concepts for conceptual works appear unexpectedly, they can be sparked even by an interesting conversation or a dream”.

The artists’ ideas emerge from personal experiences, books, conversations, accidents, or dreams, and are often left to mature over extended periods. This sensitivity to context led Waks to develop the Obscured Organisms – a series of paintings examining the invisibility of young men shaped by violence, poverty, and systemic neglect.

“A strong conceptual thread connects the works: a focus on the environments inhabited by the figures the artist portrays, particularly the urban streets where fragmented dialogues and layered traces of human presence accumulate over time.”

Within Obscured Organisms

The exhibition Obscured Organisms presents a comprehensive selection of paintings created over the past four years, none of which have previously been shown publicly. Developed over an extended period, these works reveal their meaning only when seen together, allowing the cycle to unfold through the relationships formed between individual pieces. “Visitors will also be able to trace the development of my technique, which has evolved significantly over recent years. In my latest works, I incorporate all the experiments, methods, and visual strategies I have developed throughout this time”, the artist explains.

Misha Waks, "Waks”, acrylic, spray on canvas, 180x160cm, 2025. Courtesy of the artist — Misha Waks, “Waks”, acrylic, spray on canvas, 180x160cm, 2025. Courtesy of the artist

A strong conceptual thread connects the works: a focus on the environments inhabited by the figures the artist portrays, particularly the urban streets where fragmented dialogues and layered traces of human presence accumulate over time. These surfaces, marked by painted-over words, residual colours, and the slow decay of the city, form the structural and emotional backdrop of the paintings. “These paintings represent the most current form of my practice, shaped by continuous exploration and refinement”, Waks adds.

Although the first paintings somehow foreshadowing his fascination with the subject, were created two years earlier, he began working on the current series back in 2024, with two self-portraits painted shortly after the outbreak of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Later, they were followed by We Are Waiting, The Man with a Dog, and The Dog. “At first glance, these works seemed distant from one another, formally and thematically, but they began to align only when I asked myself why I was painting such different worlds”, the artist explains.

Misha Waks, "Dzwonię by umówić się na ustawkę”, acrylic, spray on canvas, 150x130cm, 2025. Courtesy of the artist — Misha Waks, “Dzwonię by umówić się na ustawkę”, acrylic, spray on canvas, 150x130cm, 2025. Courtesy of the artist

But “a significant impulse came when I was invited to contribute to an article in the Swiss magazine Obscura Mag”, he adds. “The piece was titled Obscured Organisms. The theme turned out to be surprisingly accurate; it condensed my fascinations, fears, and memories from recent years”. Also, the fascination with urban walls, rooted in the artist’s youth spent outdoors, reflects the broader realities of contemporary life: conflict, instability, and environmental degradation. In this sense, the process of “creating through destroying” becomes central to the exhibition, offering viewers a lens through which to read both the works themselves and the world they emerge from.

Rooted in a traumatic event from his youth, works presented in Jaskółka Studio explore not only vulnerability and aggression but also the social conditions that render certain groups unseen. The exhibition’s title crystallises years of fears, memories, and observations that unexpectedly converged into a single conceptual thread.

Misha Waks, "Pies”, acrylic, spray on canvas, 150x130cm, 2025. Courtesy of the artist — Misha Waks, “Pies”, acrylic, spray on canvas, 150x130cm, 2025. Courtesy of the artist

At Jaskółka Studio, visitors will encounter 34 works, many of them large-format paintings, inviting viewers to step into a world where art becomes a lens for examining the unseen, and a call to reimagine how we perceive those who inhabit society’s margins. Visitors who attend the opening will also have the opportunity to experience Waks’s performative actions live.

“The process of “creating through destroying” becomes central to the exhibition, offering viewers a lens through which to read both the works themselves and the world they emerge from.”