

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kasia Frankowicz.
Hi Kasia, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I was a rebellious child growing up. I never understood why people didn’t challenge the status quo, I couldn’t accept the responses I would get that “it is the way it is” and didn’t like the idea I had to be ladylike. I wanted to be weird and creative, not demure and normal.
I drew every day, recreating images of Bambi and tidbits here and there, on the back of exam papers I would draw images of my own hands in detail, over and over again. Teachers noticed my talents and I went to a special art class after school with the senior students, but I was always told by the people around me – art isn’t a real job, focus on something else. The dream slowly died.
I grew up in a household that was difficult, to say the least – it’s the typical trope that lives on with my drug-riddled alcoholic father who abused his family. I took turning 16 and the imprisonment of my father as a cue to leave home and school start working and get the hell out of there. What’s the point of studying when nothing seemed right? I had to work.
It wasn’t until I was 23, after working multiple jobs that I thought to myself to take the plunge into arts, but I still went safe and studied as a Graphic Designer at CATC in Sydney.
I excelled at design. Creating felt right – it was like that feeling you get when you get your first breath of fresh air after holding your breath underwater for so long. I was no longer suffocating, and creating made me happy for the first time in a long time. As I got better people started to notice – I won an award, went over to London, worked in fashion and won another award, and a year later was inducted into my design school hall of fame. It was a whirlwind. Then it all started to get a but much, I moved back home…
Although I’m a great designer, it just never hit the spot though. After a while, I never felt truly satisfied. The hours, the stress, the mental blow, it wasn’t for me. Then came covid.
I was an Experiential Art Director so when covid hit I lost my job – all events were canceled. This is the point where I truly took the plunge, for real this time and started making art. People say I am an ‘idea machine’ -creating is what I was meant to do. Now I get to create every day and communicate with people on a personal level through art. It took a while to get here and to be honest with myself.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
If it were easy, everyone would do it. This has always been my philosophy with anything I do. Battling yourself and the worth of your work is a constant challenge, but as a creator, you need constant reminders of why you started in the first place.
When I start to doubt my practice, I have a few things I like to remind myself:
– I must give myself permission to fail
– Stop being a people pleaser – create for myself and not others
– Art is subjective, it’s not for everyone and that is a GOOD thing.
– Consistent doesn’t mean every day
– It’s ok NOT to hustle.
– My art is profound and important, even if no one buys it
– The ideas will never run out
– I’m an artist, not a content creator
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My work is expressive and cheeky, with some serious underlying themes, I find it catches people off-guard.
I’m heavily influenced by street art and popular culture, it’s experimental; mixing old and new, as well as different themes and styles – I don’t think there are any rules when you make art.
My practice is ultimately a social commentary, interactions, events, religion, politics – you name it, I wanna talk and make art about it. I’m pansexual and grew up in a Catholic household so you’ll find a lot of my work touches on sexuality and religion too.
I create because ultimately I’m trying to decipher the big question of why. Why people are the way they are, why I’m the way I am and how it all fits together.
The end game is that I would like people to think twice about social constructs and why things are the way they are. I invite people to challenge themselves more – be more critical. Whether it’s the words they use, the stuff they believe in or the things they like, I want people to ask “why?”
I want the viewer to be a bit more critical of what they enjoy and question why they enjoy it at all.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
Fuck yeah, I have. I learnt that life is way too short to just settle, with the likelihood of missed opportunities and a sad life dreaming of what could have been far risker than not trying. No one ever sat on their deathbed, happy that they never gave it a shot.
Also, on a less professional note, I learnt who my friends were, how to go running, and became a vegetarian. Although it was a scary time as I am immunocompromised, it was a huge period of growth for me – I feel like covid just accelerated things and gave me the space to become the person I was always meant to be.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kasia-studio.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kasia.artist/
Image Credits
Sean Alves: instagram.com/seanalvesphoto