JOZEFA TOMASZEWSKA
Born 1948, Poland | Based in Massachusetts, USA
Jozefa Tomaszewska was born in 1948 in Poland. She graduated from a five-year Public High School of Fine Arts in Tarnów, where she studied weaving, painting, sculpture, and design. She went on to study education, majoring in primary education and art.
Tomaszewska worked as a teacher for 17 years, during which time
she taught various subjects, including art. In 1989, she moved to the
United States and has since made her home in Massachusetts.
In her own words:
“In 1992, I began working with contemporary fabric, enriching it with form, texture, and color. I gave it three-dimensionality until it achieved the form of a free-standing sculpture. My fabric sculptures evoke many emotions in viewers. For me, they bring delight, sympathy, relaxation, pleasure, surprise, admiration, and peace. My themes are drawn from nature.
In Woman Tree, I was inspired by a phenomenon I saw in the forest—a cracked tree with breast-shaped growths and beautiful young trees growing from its roots.
My art often makes me feel anxious, even terrified or traumatized by the idea of our own passing and what comes after. But at the same time, there is comfort in knowing that we, as Emotionalists, leave behind our artwork.
I have been an Emotionalist since 1996, after meeting Lubomir Tomaszewski at an exhibition at the Massachusetts State House. That day, Lubek invited me to join the group, where I met many wonderful and gifted artists through our collective exhibits.”
Tomaszewska has been a member of the Emotionalists art movement since 1996. Her fabric sculptures are deeply expressive and rooted in nature, exploring themes of life, transformation, and legacy through texture and form.
“Jozefa creates sheer magic by interweaving sisal ropes, string pieces of wool, cotton rugs and leather. She gives a new dimension and life to art for contemporary tapestry. She combines in a unique fashion the old skill of loom weaving with an innovative technique and colorful style. Jozefa’s original pieces reflect her sensitivity to the bond between people and nature. Her three-dimensional tapestry expresses her sense of wonder for the beauty of this world (Her world) and admiration that she invites everyone to share with her.”
— Elizabeth Zakrzewski
“A very interesting part of Jozefa’s tapestry is it’s three dimensionality. Not only some part large volumes, but the texture is often so deep that they organize space with their large planes, the surface protruding from the wall or parallel to the main direction of the surface. The whole organization creates an image of art, full of color, beautiful outlines and with sculpture like qualities.”
— Lubomir Tomaszewski