Dana Widawski, born in 1973, lives and works in Berlin. The artist studied Textile Design at the Burg Giebichenstein College for Art and Design in Halle/Saale from 1995-2000 and then afterwards studied Art in Context from 2004 to 2006 at the University of Arts in Berlin.
In 2011, Dana Widawski won the Art Award of the City of Schwabach, in 2001 a grant from the Wilhelm-Lorch-Stiftung, and in 2000 a grant from the HKD Burg Giebichenstein.
Dana Widawski paints tiles. Tiles like those found in every bathroom, tiles like those that were painted with colbalt blue in Delft hundreds of years ago, to remind one, with the world’s beauty, of the impermanent nature of earthly existence.
In her works, Dana Widawski calls to mind classic ornaments from different cultures and epochs. She extends and defamiliarizes these structures with contemporary illustrations and makes something look decorative at first glance. When one takes a closer look, however, one perceives a confusing and ironic layer under the surface, one that addresses societal clichés and paradoxes and calls them into question.