Major concerns of my creative work have centered on the relationship between humans and nature. There has been a constant back-and-forth fluctuation in my focus: from human presence in the environment and our venturing into the wild, to nature re-entering the structures, places, and artifacts that we humans create. Concepts of transformation, growth and loss, form and formlessness, explored through travel and in situ investigation, have been crucial to my practice as an artist. In this body of mixed-media work, nature is paying us humans a visit. A sublime yet vulnerable tiger inhabits Baroque frescoes alongside the modest but resilient tardigrade. Fungus covers decorative stucco ornaments, and time slowly dissolves what we humans call beauty.

Maja Godlewska is a Polish-American visual artist who earned her Master of Fine Arts in Painting from the Academy of Art and Design in Wrocław, Poland, and continued her studies at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin. Her artistic interests include the relationship between humans and nature, as well as the phenomenology of landscape. She works across a wide range of media, including painting, drawing, installation, photography, public art, relational art, and performance art. Godlewska has exhibited internationally in more than 120 shows, including at the Bechtler Museum, the Mint Museum, and the Contemporary Museum of Art in Raleigh, NC, USA; the French Institute, Mauritius; Zachęta National Gallery, Poland; APT London, England; SCAD Lacoste, France; Burnie Regional Gallery, Australia; and Arte Laguna, Italy. She is the recipient of numerous grants and fellowships, including a Fulbright Fellowship, North Carolina Arts Council Fellowships, Arts and Science Council grants, a KościuszkoFoundation Grant, and research grants from UNC Charlotte. She has also participated in artist residencies in the United States, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, France, the Faroe Islands, Spain, Australia, Mauritius, South Korea, and Chile.

Godlewska is a Professor of Painting at UNC Charlotte. Most recently, she collaborated on Mare Liberum, Reimagined / Transformative Currents in California, part of the prestigious PST ART: Art & Science Collide initiative sponsored by the Getty Foundation. In summer 2026, she will participate in two artist-in-residence programs in Finland, where she will explore local landscapes and the human impact on the environment. Godlewska’s work is represented by Toshkova Fine Art.