Biography

Born in Poland in 1953, I completed an apprenticeship in Gold & Silversmithing and later studied Sculpture under Alfons Wosowski in his studio in Gdansk. Influenced by the charm, tranquility and atmosphere of Kazimierz Dolny nad Wisla (a small town in central Poland), I set up my own studio there from which I worked until 1979. Kazimierz Dolny is a town reknown for its artistic endeavours and nurturing of artists, sculptors, painters, writers and poets. It was a very important period for me in my creative development as an artist and a craftsman. I was experimenting in sculpture and metal art using wood, stone, metal and wood carvings producing functional and non-functional works. Living amongst other artists provided incredible encouragement to stay in the field of arts and craft. This versatile environment helped me to forge and pursue my later career and achievements to date as an artist.

I left Poland and for a short period worked in Austria and Germany, and later migrated to New Zealand in 1980 and Australia in 1985. From 1980 - 1987 I worked as a jeweller for a number of manufacturing jewellers both in New Zealand and Australia. In 1987 I was given the opportunity to take up a residency in the Metal Workshop at the Meat Market Craft Centre (MMCC) in Melbourne. The MMCC was an old Meat Market that had been converted to a Craft Centre for up and coming artists and craftspeople in a variety of fields (eg. metal, ceramics, wood, hot & cold glass, etc.) The Metal Workshop covered artistic pursuits in gold & silversmithing, jewellery, blacksmithing and other metal crafts. During this time I was able to experiment using various materials in my work and designs including titanium, niobium, anodised aluminium and mokume. However, I always felt and still believe that there is still some hidden mystery left in gold and silver and this has given me a reason to come back and work with those two precious metals with pleasure. In this period of time I produced works for exhibitions, galleries, commissions for corporate and private clients.

In 1991 I left Australia to travel overseas and upon my return in 1992 was offered the position of co-ordinator of the Metal Workshop at the MMCC. Co-ordinating the Metal Workshop gave me the opportunity to design, make and perfect my art. In this period of time I took part in exhibitions, produced work for private collections, conducted workshops for metalsmiths to share my experiences, techniques and ideas. This time was very influential in my career as a gold and silversmith, very fruitful in creating a body of work, and gave me a professional basis to concentrate in the field. I now work from my own studio in Melbourne, Australia.