Elżbieta Kaleta

Studio #4 | 8516 Rio Grande Blvd. NW | www.elzbietakaleta.com | email Elżbieta | (505) 280-7838

Elżbieta W. Kaleta was born, raised, and educated in Kraków, Poland. She earned a Ph.D. in biology and worked in research, also finding time to do scientific illustrations. In 1981, she came to the United States for postdoctoral research at Harvard Medical School and later settled with her family in Albuquerque, New Mexico. When her son’s illness forced her to stay at home, making art become her therapy and source of income.

Elżbieta creates paper cutouts and collages using the finest papers available. (Poland is famous for the medium of paper cutouts being created by both folk and professional artists). Each picture, shining with brilliant colors, is an original and unique composition. Each detail is cut out, mostly freehand, with scissors, and applied in several layers on top of each other. Using hand made papers, her own images and photographs, together with paints and calligraphy, places Elżbieta’s art strongly in the mixed media category. Elżbieta’s love of nature is visible in her designs brimming with fantastic flowers, birds, and animals. One of her favored subjects is Tree of Life cut out in countless ways, either in one solid color or in multilayered formation. Her art often raises spiritual and environmental issues. Using the same techniques mastered for Polish traditional designs, she has developed her own vision of the Southwest spirit capturing it in her unique medium. Her other passion is focused on photography.

Elżbieta has devoted hundreds of hours to classes and demonstrations in schools, senior citizens’ centers and museums. Her art remains in numerous private and corporate collections throughout the world. She also does special commissions and public art projects. She is a recipient of several grants from the New Mexico Arts Division, many other awards, and her art is shown in numerous publications. She shows her art extensively attending fine art festivals and exhibitions nationwide and abroad including Japan and China.