Anna Kruhelska is a visual artist and practising architect based in Lodz, Poland. She has worked as an architect on a vast array of major projects in Russia, Malaysia, and the UK, all of which has formed her understanding of form, symmetry and space, and given her a knowledge which has allowed her to cultivate a congruous and innovative contemporary art practice.

Kruhelska focuses on abstract, three-dimensional paper wall reliefs that work by reflecting light – with the overall effect dependant on the viewer’s perspective. The central concept of her work is the interplay between light and shade, contrast, and the repetitive patterns created by the folds and hollows in the work.

Inspired by minimalism, architectural composition and geometry Anna creates clean, crisp, often white-on-white framed wall installations. These artworks are beautifully presented and often work alongside one another in formation so, although not officially diptychs, very often the artworks appear to flow from one frame to the next.

14 October – 25 November 2023 – ‘Color Play’ exhibition featuring Anna Kruhelska, Ash Keating & Tomislav Topic, 44309 Gallery, Dortmund, Germany
13 October – 25 November 2023 – Lanue Gallery, Boston, USA
18 – 22 October 2023 – Affordable Art Fair, London Battersea, with Woolff Gallery
26 Aug – 30 September 2023 – ‘Order in the Wind’ exhibition featuring Anna Kruhelska & Stallman, Laura Rathe Fine Art, Dallas
24 Jun – 19 August 2023 – ‘Art of paper’ group exhibition at LRFA, Dallas, USA
19 June – 21 August 2023 – Summer Group Show, Woolff Gallery, London, UK
10 – 14 May 2023 – Affordable Art Fair, London Hampstead, with Woolff Gallery
18 Feb – 25 March 2023 – ‘Decade’ group exhibition at LRFA, Dallas, USA
16 – 19 Feb 2023 – Art Wynwood with Oliver Cole Gallery
25 – 29 Jan 2023 – Art Palm Beach + Contemporary with Oliver Cole Gallery
15 Dec 2022 – 12 Jan 2023 ‘Superspectra’ group exhibition at LRFA, Houston, USA
29 Nov – 4 Dec 2022 – Art Miami with Oliver Cole Gallery
4 Nov – 16 Nov 2022 – Group exhibition at Woolff Gallery, London, UK
3 – 6 November 2022 – Discovery Art Fair, Frankfurt with Arp Galerie
20 – 23 October 2022 – Affordable Art Fair, London Battersea, with Woolff Gallery
7 – 10 Sept 2022 – Art on Paper, New York, with Muriel Guepin Gallery
14 – 17 July 2022 – Hamptons Fine Art Fair, Southampton, NY, with Laura Rathe Fine Art
2 June – 7 July, 2022 – ‘Dual Perspective’ group exhibition at Oliver Cole Gallery, Miami, USA
18 – 22 May 2022 – Affordable Art Fair, New York, with Muriel Guepin Gallery
10 April – 1 May 2022 Magnae Chartae, group exhibition curated by Michele De Lucchi, Venice, Italy
24 – 27 March 2022 – Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary with Laura Rathe Fine Art
10 – 13 March 2022 – Affordable Art Fair, London Battersea with Woolff Gallery
11 Dec 2021- 10 Jan 2022 – ‘Imagine’ group exhibition at LRFA, Houston, USA
20 Nov – 30 Dec 2021 – ‘The little things’ group exhibition at LRFA, Dallas, USA
July 2021 – Affordable Art Fair, London Battersea
16 April – 12 May 2021 – ARP Galerie, ‘Paper meets wood’ – Hanau, Germany
26 Feb – 27 March 2021 – ‘Resilience’ group exhibition at LRFA, Dallas, USA
25 Feb – 4 April 2021 – ‘Turning the page’ group exhibition at LRFA, Houston, USA
November 2020 – Woolff Gallery, London, UK
March 2020 – Affordable Art Fair, London Battersea, with Woolff Gallery
November 2019 – Art fair, Warsaw, Poland
June 2019 – Drukarnia, Lodz, Poland

The works are made from archival, light-resistant and acid-free paper. All the pieces are folded and assembled by hand with the meticulous attention to detail.

The works are professionally framed in wooden frames with a front glass which eliminates reflections and filters UV rays.

How did you get started with folding paper and art?

I am a qualified architect and for the last 14 years I’ve been working professionally. I love my job, but at some point I realized that I needed a side project, which would be more artistic and would give me the opportunity to creatively express myself and explore ideas I find interesting.

I love minimalism and simplicity and I am fascinated by patterns, texture and the play of light and shadow. Wanting to combine all these inspirations, I began to experiment with pleating fabrics but after few months, I turned to paper which I used to work with a lot during my university years. While there are many limitations of paper I discovered that it gives me a lot of creative freedom and possibilities. That’s how it all began.

On what project did you work when working as an architect?

I worked on wide rage of projects but I spent most time working on high end residential buildings, 5* hotels and luxury apartments. The construction sites were in Russia, the UK and Malaysia.

Each time it looks a bit different. Sometimes the inspiration to create a work is a simple shape, eg. a hexagon, another time it is an interesting tessellation.

I always start in front of a computer screen and it is a very creative part that makes me happy. I draw shapes and forms and try to find repeating patterns. Sometimes I spend hours on one idea, I develop it, not knowing what the end result will look like. On other occasions I have a very clear vision of what I want to achieve and I devote a lot of time to refining this particular vision. Sometimes a small change in the angle of the figure has a huge impact on the look of the whole work.

When I am satisfied with the project, I still have to translate 3d models to 2d, so that they can be cut from a flat sheet of paper. The process of cutting paper is performed by plotter cutter. Once individual shapes are cut they all need to be folded and glued manually. This part of the process is very repeatable as each relief consists of 40 – 1000 individual solids. It may sound horrible but actually it’s very calming and relaxing – almost like a meditation – so I like this part of creating an art piece as well.

After hours of folding and glueing, when all the shapes are ready, the whole panel can finally be assembled.

Why do you work with paper?

Paper suits me as once folded it’s quite rigid and it allows me to work with 3D shapes I’m interested in. I can either work with quite simple 3d surface patterns based on tessellation or tiling or create more fluid and complex forms by using parametric modeling. Folding paper is also very relaxing. It lets me forget about everyday activities that can be stressful at times.

From where your inspiration comes from?

My inspiration comes from all sorts of places: architecture and minimalism are probably the strongest ones but I’m also inspired by geometry, origami and chip carving technique so popular in southern Poland.

What subject did you study?

I studied architecture in Lodz, Vienna and London.

Where are you based?

I’m based in Lodz which is a one of the main cities in Poland. The city used to be a textile manufacturing hub in the 19th century but now is probably best known for its film school which is one of the oldest in the world and produced large number of top filmmakers.

Are you represented by any gallery?

Yes, I am represented by:

Woolff Gallery – London
Laura Rathe Fine Art – Houston and Dallas
Oliver Cole Gallery – Miami
Lanoue Gallery – Boston
Muriel Guepin Gallery – New York
Whistler Contemporary Gallery – Canada
Belvedere Art Space– Dubai
Flow Art House – Warsaw