Original Mixed Media Art
I am an artist and independent designer living and working in Napa Valley. Inspired by natural wonders, California landscapes and vibrant travels, my work is modern, bold and energetic.
Agnes Pierscieniak is an artist and designer residing in the picturesque Napa Valley. Drawn to vibrant places with rich histories, Agnes is passionate about travel, meeting new people, and making beautiful things. She loves vibrant hues and exuberant patterns, creating art in a variety of media from hand dyed textiles and printmaking to screenprinting and collage. She received her MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and has taught at Otis, Otis Extension, USC and RISD. Pursuing a design career, Agnes resided in Los Angeles for almost 20 years, where the city's randomness, colorful sunsets, and fearless energy left a significant imprint on her work.
Travel serves as a profound wellspring of inspiration. Each voyage introduces her to new hues, shapes, textures, and the inherent surprises found in different cultures and landscapes. Agnes's work captures the essence of these places - ancient cities, lush gardens and natural formations - transforming her encounters into bold, abstract compositions that emphasize the interplay of shape and color. Her process embraces spontaneity and the unexpected, mirroring the serendipitous discoveries of her journeys. Through her art, Agnes invites viewers to share in the vibrant and dynamic world she explores, each piece a testament to the beauty and diversity of the places that inspire her.
Art is my way of translating what I see and sharing my experiences with you. Looking for beauty in the unexpected, I attempt to turn ordinary moments into extraordinary ones. Color is my Life. I hope you can be inspired by these collections, and can travel the world of color with me.
— Agnes Pierscieniak
My Story
Growing up in San Francisco, an immigrant from Eastern Europe, I took art classes every chance I could. When my grandmother would visit us from Poland, she would teach me how to paint. My favorite memories involve sitting on a park bench together trying to capture the beauty of the ocean in front of our eyes. We would spend long afternoons—bundled up in the foggy San Francisco summers—painting with watercolors and admiring the landscapes.
I still remember my first high school black and white photography class, and the opportunity to print images using the dark room. The moment when the photograph had been exposed and appeared in the developer tray seemed like magic. After working in Architecture and Graphic Design, I went back to grad school at the Rhode Island School of Design to get my MFA. While at RISD, I got to explore alternative photography processes like Silkscreen. I started leaning towards hands on methods and abstraction, getting enamored by printmaking processes.
I consider myself an eternal student, always excited to learn and play. I believe that hands on learning activates a part of ourselves that many have forgotten to use. As a student at RISD, we were always encouraged to play. To experiment and to discover. To start something we didn’t know the ending of. Art was a process, not an answer. In my own work, I strive to incorporate hands on methods that lend a certain level of surprise. Each step can never be exactly reproduced, and all pieces are one of a kind. I love the surprise and the discovery of seeing what can be created in a short period time. Tactile art allows freedom and unrestricted discovery.
I am an artist that explores art processes where chance and experimentation are as important as the final product. From collaging to creating expressionist screenprints, my pieces are created by exploration and play. I developed special screenprint techniques so that each print is one of a kind.
Certain places deeply inspire me and my work. I have been lucky to travel to enchanted places all around the world. Each one has left an indelible impression on me and my work. I am drawn to color, to hot places with rich histories, cities that feel “old” and where life has patterns of ancient times. Here you will discover that every color has a meaning, every city has a story. I prefer cities which are layered and busy, ones with a cacophony of raw energy.
I feel at home amidst the messy, the random and the irreverent. Architecture school taught me to be precise, ordered and clean. But in my heart, I’m messy. I want to play, to get paint everywhere, to make with techno blaring loudly in my headphones. Mexico City (another one of my favorite cities) has a similar vibe. It’s busy, frenetic, full of color and life. I hope to evoke this energy in my work. Sometimes it might be a layer too much, but too much is better than not enough.