Zoltaszek’s works are portals into abundant, colourful spaces assembled from memories and imagined vistas. She draws heavily on her early life experiences.

“I grew up in a brutalist tower block, surrounded by the drab reality of an Eastern Bloc city. The winters were long and grey, cracked concrete swallowing the city whole. There just wasn’t much colour around — and my young brain was hungry for it. At the same time, my family home was full of collected items and found treasures, trinkets precariously stacked on top of one another.”

Consequently, her paintings explore our relationship with our environment and cherished objects — how we create inner and outer extensions of ourselves and find refuge in imagined, self-curated spaces. The viewer is confronted with worlds brimming with colour, exploring the tension between lack and abundance. A rich plethora of hues and patterns are carefully placed; dynamic brushstrokes reveal fleeting shapes that evoke both raw joy and contemplation.

The worlds in Zoltaszek’s paintings are not governed by conventional perspective — they combine multiple vantage points, introducing a sense of constructed reality.

“On a formal level, I focus on the emotionality of colour and contrast bold, dynamic brushstrokes with delicately layered glazes. The paintings often reference elaborate patterns and art forms that occur naturally in nature.
My working process embraces flow. I start with an idea, but then I lean into the process and let the painting take me on a journey — it almost unveils itself. It’s a conversation.”