Barbara Derecka
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→ El Greco – Premio de las Bellas Artes - El Greco Book - 2025
→ International Artist Award 2025 Book
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Multiple group exhibitions curated by:
→ Castle Park Arts Centre in Frodsham
→ Dot art gallery in Liverpool
→ Holy Art in London
→ D31 in Doncaster
Art Fairs:
→ Rochester
→ Bury
→ Morecambe
Solo exhibitions:
→ 2024 - Liverpool Everyman Playhouse - Echoes of Emotions
→ 2025 - Castle Park Arts Centre - Echoes of Emotions, Brushstrokes of Colours
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→ 3rd Award - Doncaster Power Exhibition by D31 - 2023
→ Longlisted for VAA Artist of the Year - 2023, 2024, 2025
→ Longlisted for VAO - 2023, 2024
→ Winner of London Award - 1st Place Painting - Season 70 of Golden Talent
→ Shortlisted for VAA Art 500 International 2025
→ Winner of VAA Art 100 International 2025
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Barbara Derecka is a contemporary visual artist whose work explores emotion, identity, and cultural memory through bold colour and expressive form. Originally from Poland and now based in Cheshire, England, Barbara brings a rich cross-cultural perspective to her practice, blending European artistic sensibility with a modern, global outlook.
Barbara’s practice is driven by storytelling. Whether depicting iconic cultural figures or exploring intimate, introspective subjects, her paintings aim to reveal the humanity beneath the surface, moments of strength, vulnerability, and transformation. She believes art should provoke reflection, spark dialogue, and create emotional resonance.
My work is an exploration of emotion, identity, and human connection. Through expressive colour, layered textures, and a balance between realism and abstraction, I aim to capture what is felt rather than simply what is seen. I am drawn to faces, gestures, and moments that reveal vulnerability, strength, and the complexity of the human experience.
Working with acrylic, oil, watercolour, and mixed media allows me to respond intuitively to each subject. Colour plays a central role in my practice, it carries mood, memory, and energy, often becoming a language of its own. I use bold palettes and dynamic mark-making to evoke movement and emotion, inviting the viewer to engage on a personal level.
My portraits often focus on cultural icons and everyday figures alike, reflecting how individuals shape and are shaped by society. Alongside this, I explore themes of mental health, social change, and belonging, using art as a space for reflection and dialogue.
