"at 21 we were immortal"

Chapter 01

2024-

This act originates from the visual world that shaped me in 1990s West Berlin—specifically the charm of Western pop culture, toys, and magazines. The main inspiration comes from magazine covers scribbled over with ballpoint pens by my mother. In a way, I am repeating this method, scribbling over my own paintings that depict my private memories.

Artist Hadas Patryk standing in an art studio with large abstract oil paintings on white walls.
Artist Hadas Patryk standing in an art studio with large abstract oil paintings on white walls.
Abstract mixed-media portrait with blurred facial features, blue overlays, and yellow gestural brushstrokes.
Abstract mixed-media portrait with blurred facial features, blue overlays, and yellow gestural brushstrokes.

Van Gogh’s Sunflowers were everywhere for me—in the apartments of friends and their families, and even hanging in the stairwells of post-socialist Polish housing blocks. They created this incredible contrast between the surrounding poverty and the exclusivity of owning a Van Gogh. The image of those Sunflowers paired with sunflower seed shells scattered across a stairwell floor is a scene deeply etched into my memory.

Hadas Patryk
info@hadaspatryk.com