In my work, I focus on exploring new territories through commitment to cross-disciplinary practices.
There are two predominant directions in my work; one proceeds from
the rational application of systems and structural rigour, while its
opposite emphasises the process of making and the free investigation of
materials. Despite their differences, both directions have a basis in
reality and correspond roughly with the worlds of physics and biology.
My preoccupation with space, time, body, intimate chemical reactions,
internal organs, matter and energy is abstracted through the use of
drawing and unique print techniques. Forces and energies are directly
transcribed onto the surfaces through processes ranging from printing
with blocks of ice, to pouring solvents while screen-printing. In its
extreme, the physical and biological are combined in plasma-like fluid
forms.
Investigation of reality is, for me, inseparable from experimenting
with the processes of making, and vice versa, the experimentation with
different processes is itself a proposition on the structure of the
world around me.
Iwona Abrams studied at the Royal College of Art (MA in
Communication Art and Design), Central Saint Martin’s School of Art and
Design and the Krakow Academy of Fine Arts in Poland (MA in Fine Art
Printmaking). In 2003 and 2006 she was a prizewinner at the
International Krakow Printmaking Triennial, Poland.
Iwona Abrams has lectured in British art and design colleges since
1999, including: The Arts Institute at Bournemouth, London College of
Communication and Kent Institute of Art and Design. Since 2002 she has
been a Visiting Tutor at the RCA’s Drawing Studio and a Visiting
Lecturer at the University of Westminster.
Iwona Abrams has exhibited throughout the world. Most recently she
shown her work in Dalarnas Museum in Sweden, the Museum of Photography
in Seoul, Korea and in the Kunstlerhaus Gallery in Vienna, Austria.
She has taken an active part in international conferences, including the 2nd Impact International Print Conference in Helsinki.