Ewa Perz: Chasing Color and Challenge

By Kelsey Knott • Photos By Kathryn Harrington

In Gdansk Poland, her native city, Ewa Perz depicts a street in bright reds, leading toward lighter yellow pointed buildings under a triangle of light purple sky.

Growing up near the border of the Baltic Sea, black, white, grays, and blues defined her surroundings, reflecting the dark feel of Northern Europe.

But when Ewa paints, color is the game that bears the essence of the object. “The form is the last of my worries. The harmonious interaction between light and color is where I stop. I spend a lot of time choosing the right palette. Strict lines of realism or literal compositions are becoming secondary to me. Once I have that, I can start and paint fast, still making changes throughout.” As a child, she worked through coloring books so quickly that she would color in ordinary books, or even ask her brother to draw her something to color in. While she found drawing limiting, learning to draw with the paintbrush opened up her artistic avenues. Inspired by her time living in bright, vibrant Mexico and taking opportunities to attend local studios here in Louisville, she discovered her love for painting. Now freshly back from France’s Botanical Expression show, Ewa appreciates Louisville as her home, with artists aplenty and nature nearby. “I found here a sense of belonging and opportunities to build a peaceful, fulfilling life. It is a source of constant inspiration and often my paintings are expressions of what I see here.”

Ewa has always felt called to create. Though she loved biology and working as a chemist, the repetition of proving experiments didn’t scratch her creative itch. However, her master’s degree in plant physiology informs her work still today. “When I look at flowers, I know what’s inside. I can paint with minimal, expressive brush strokes because I know why the petal bends and its outside appearance.” As a nature lover, Ewa paints birds, fish, horses, and landscapes, but flowers remain her soft spot. “Sometimes when I’m stuck, I take a new canvas and start flowers. They always give me peace and assurance. 

In her early work, Ewa leaned into monochromatics, using different values of the same color and adding closely related hues. Her art often expresses the hope of living in a balance and the peaceful presence of environments. While her paintings have more busy backgrounds today, she still strives for simplicity in her work. “I feel like the magic is lost if I overshare. I use limited, but very intentional, brush strokes.” Ewa enjoys the challenge of capturing the essence of the form without giving too much. “To look at the finished painting can be exhilarating but it's a process of painting that I truly love. Even when shapes don't morph how I want, when I cannot get colors together, when I have to restretch the warped canvas, I cannot stop being passionate about it. It is my lifestyle.” Ewa wishes more people knew how meditative painting can be.

“If you hang my painting on the wall, and you feel happy and the room feels brighter, that’s what I wanted.” Her love for beauty shines through her art, evoking a sense of easiness. In the future, Ewa hopes to strengthen her technique to paint more abstractly.

Find Ewa’s incredible work online at ewaperzgallery.com and follow her Instagram @Ewa_Perz.