PAULA HANISZEWSKI

Paula is an American painter whose work explores the tension between constructed identity and authentic self. Combining classical techniques with psychologically charged subject matter, she examines how beauty can conceal, seduce, distort, and intersect with themes of the grotesque, maternal, and mythical. 

Inspired loosely by the tale of Sleeping Beauty, her exhibition draws on its motifs of passivity, entrapment, and suspended time, while examining broader themes of motherhood, childhood, and societal inertia. Her figures, often set in lush or uncanny settings, suggest intimate yet estranged moments that hint at hidden narratives.

Paula holds an MFA from the New York Academy of Art, where she trained in figurative and representational painting. She lives and works in southern Illinois with her husband and two children.