Mikołaj Malesza

Mikołaj Malesza

Mikołaj Malesza is a painter, scenographer and a sculptor sometimes… Mikołaj Malesza was born in 1954 to an orthodox family in the little Polish town of Krynki. Until the age of fifteen, he lived on the edge of the Knyszyn Forest, in the village of Trzciano Nowe, situated thirty kilometres from Białystok (the largest city in north-eastern Poland). In order to get to school, he had to go a long distance through the forest. He recollects those journeys with pleasure... In order to get to an entrance exam in the Secondary School of Fine Arts in Supraśl, he had to ride 20 kilometres on a bike... In the school he used to draw, sculpt and make wooden stools. During five years of study in Supraśl, only once did he visit a puppet theatre. In 1974 he got into the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, the Faculty of Interior Architecture (Art Exhibition). A lecturer that he highly appreciated was Jacek Damięcki. Mikołaj liked his unconventional way of thinking. Mikołaj became his assistant and worked for two years at the Academy, which he left in the early 80s together with Jacek Damięcki. In this way, Mikołaj began his life-long adventure with painting, and soon later (in 1985) – the adventure with theatre (especially puppet theatre). Many years of intense work in those both fields resulted in a considerable body of work as well as numerous awards.

more about the artist: www.mikolajmalesza.pl