Ursula Dutkiewicz grew up surrounded by the abstract and expressionist paintings of her artist father, Wladyslaw (Wlad) Dutkiewicz in Adelaide. Wlad and his younger brother Ludwik were part of the influx of migrant artists who arrived in Australia after the Second World War. They settled in South Australia and soon became two of Adelaide’s leading modernist painters in the 1950s and 1960s.
As children Ursula and her four siblings were encouraged to paint as soon as they could hold a paintbrush, as her artist father was keen to encourage their artistic development. The family home was an artist’s studio that turned into a gallery every year, either for a pre-Christmas show or for the biennial Adelaide Festival of Arts. The family also hosted regular salons and parties and was a significant hub of creative life in Adelaide before the Contemporary Art Society secured premises in Parkside in 1964.
Unlike her brothers, Michal (b.1955) and Adam (b.1956) her teenage years were spent following other interests. However, in her twenties art became a major focus: and by 1989 she had received a Certificate of Art at TAFE in North Adelaide. She moved to Melbourne and studied ceramics, receiving a degree in Fine Arts from Melbourne University. Currently she is resident artist at the Gasworks Arts Park, from where she has worked for many years.
Over the course of her career she has taken part in many exhibitions, including regular shows in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide, and exhibitions in the UK and Mexico.
Working as a full-time, professional artist has given her many opportunities to run workshops for children of all ages, adults, people with disabilities, youth with mental health issues and Aboriginal and migrant women. She has also managed activities for many festivals and community days, including a number of large scale community participation projects. Significant among them was her design and management of the Altar Installation for the Women’s Circus in conjuction with Amnesty International for “Celebrating Women 1996”, at the Victorian Arts Centre Forecourt.
Her main artistic influences, apart from the profound impact of the art of her father and his brother, include the works of Kandinsky and Miro. Abstraction has always fascinated her, particularly in terms of its ability to ignite and excite the imagination. She says her work is a journey of exploration, seeking to give shape to the energy of intuitive experience.
- Writers:
- Dutkiewicz, Adam
- Date written:
- 2008
- Last updated:
- 2011
