Magdalena Abakanowicz

Magdalena Abakanowicz

Magdalena Abakanowicz, born on the 20th of June 1930, is a Polish sculptor and fiber artist from Falenty. Magdalena Abakanowicz studied at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts and won a Leonardo da Vinci World Award of Arts in 1999. Abakanowicz currently lives and works in Warsaw.

Most pieces of her early artwork were lost or damaged during her moving from place to place when she was younger. Only few sketches were found in good condition. Later on she then recreated some of her early works from memory. 


During the 1970s and 1980s she changed her medium and scale and began working on sculptures of headless and armless humans made of sackcloth which is sewn together and bonded with synthetic resins. 

Magdalena Abakanowicz wanted to 'break the norm' and create her own style of art which nobody else had thought of before.