Ewa Wilczynski, the youngest artist to exhibit at the Royal Academy of Arts, is being hailed as a rising star of the art world. The 27-year-old, who trained at London’s Central St Martins and the Académie des Beaux Arts in Paris, has exhibited her paintings all over the world, and her style – a mixture of fetish and vintage with a hint of Marie Antoinette – has caught the attention of acclaimed photographers David LaChapelle and Damien Frost, for whom she now acts as a muse.
In many ways, Wilczynski does not conform to the artist stereotype. Often painters are depicted as undisciplined, partying all night and rising after midday. Wilczynski follows a strict routine and will get up to stretch her own canvasses at 4am, painting by 5am. When it comes to meeting deadlines for her commissions, she is just as regimented. “As a self-employed artist I am in a position where I can dictate my working hours,” she says. “But sometimes schedules and life events conflict, and you have to get the work done. To make a specific deadline, I may have to work for periods of time with no sleep.”
Unlike many professions, where there may be other people who can cover in the event of accident or illness, Wilczynski is unable to draft in a replacement if she can’t work. “This happened earlier this year when I had a collector flying over to London,” she reveals. “I got food poisoning the same week that my grandmother passed away. I just had to push through it and allowed myself to collapse in a heap in my studio only after my collector was happy with their work.”
Asking for payment from private clients is a delicate matter, says Wilczynski. “When it comes to selling art – with private clients or in a gallery context – there needs to be a particularly sensitive approach,” she says. “You are providing a luxury product, and want the sale experience to be as easy and enjoyable for them as possible, as my priority lies with their pleasure and excitement for the artwork.
“I am fortunate to have a loyal and respectful list of collectors,” she continues. “But inevitably, as in many other fields, you do cross paths with some downright difficult characters. Especially in the art world! A person’s mind can change on a dime, and sometimes a fascinating game of psychology comes into play. I have had an acquaintance in the past say they want to buy a piece for an agreed price, then ask for it for free, and then play a strange power game whereby you as an artist and the value of your work are belittled – very strange.”
Rather than get embroiled in complex negotiations that ultimately devalue her work, Wilczynski will sometimes walk away from the deal entirely. “When it comes to clients who quibble about the price, you can usually sense whether they are going to be a headache or not, and make an informed decision from there,” she says.
Insurance can help cover artists such as Wilczynski in the event that they run into problems. “Professional indemnity and business interruption cover can not only help to safeguard an artist’s livelihood but also takes care of other unseen problems, such as customers refusing to pay or asking for lots of work beyond the terms agreed in the contract,” says Laura Sanchis Sarti from Hiscox, which offers specialist insurance for artists from all disciplines. “Having the right cover in place leaves creative people to get on with the important stuff – producing incredible work – rather than worrying about what could happen if they fall ill.”
There have been other challenges along the way for Wilczynski; her website has been targeted by hackers in the past. They managed to access her online portfolio and moved images around, stealing the raw files. As a consequence, the artist now insists on keeping the details of her upcoming shows offline to ensure they can’t be leaked or tampered with by cyber-criminals
“As I prepare for my next exhibition I am keeping everything secret and offline,” she explains. “This is partly for hacking reasons, but also as a reaction against the obsession with social media. We are constantly consuming imagery in huge quantities so we don’t have time to fully engage with what we are seeing. My intention is to keep my up-and-coming series of work completely private until the show – to introduce engagement, surprise and discovery with the art experience for the millennial generation.”
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