Joanna Ambroz

Unspoken meanings and embarrassing thoughts.
Joanna Ambroz works across painting, art research, and bookmaking in a total sense. Her practice explores taboo topics, relationships, pleasures, and the discomforts that arise from self-confrontation. Simplicity and conciseness are essential to her—conveying profound ideas through metaphor. The essence.

She sees her artistic activity as a research process in which recognizing patterns—often inhibiting or destructive—in her own behavior or in those close to her becomes a trigger for exploring new visual and conceptual territories. Through these observations, she seeks to confront uncomfortable tendencies and replace them with behaviors that support self-development and growth. Rather than focusing on aesthetics or form, she prioritizes content and meaning, treating them as tools for social and intellectual critique. In this context, artistic creation functions as a method of inquiry—an act of asking questions rather than offering ready-made answers.

In her work, she uses two colors: red and blue. Red symbolizes awareness, tension, temperament, and conflict. Blue represents the subconscious, harmony, reflection, and mourning. She is intrigued by the interplay between these colors—the contrast that generates dialogue between intense experiences and the urge to suppress them.

She earned her Ph.D. from the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice (PL)  in 2023 with a dissertation titled Come, I Will Show You My Knives. A Method for Creating Reflective Books. The practical component, the book Come, I Will Show You My Knives, was added to the collection of the National Museum in Poznań (PL), recognized in the Prix Bob Calle (FR), The Most Beautiful Polish Book of the Year 2023 competition, and presented at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp (BE).

She completed her Master’s degree with the highest distinction and the Rector’s Honours in 2018, and her Bachelor’s degree with the highest distinction and the Rector’s Medal in 2016, both at the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice (PL), Department of Graphic Design. Her Bachelor’s diploma work, the book Cut – The Hair of the Polish Folks, was published by BOSZ Publishing in 2017 and added to the collection of the National Museum in Poznań (PL) in 2023.