Paula Debkowska is a Polish artist living and working in the UK, currently based in Warrington. Born the eldest of four children, she led a rather nomadic life, roaming the world like a stray cat before finally settling in England in 2006.
She has always been drawn to creative work. Her earliest artistic influences were Japanese manga and anime, accompanied by a lifelong fascination with drawing animals. Over the past decade, she has dedicated herself intensively to developing her artistic practice – through independent research, online art communities, engaging with the working processes of other artists, and, most importantly, continuous experimentation and practice. This path eventually led her to pursue her art professionally. Her more recent influences include Hajime Sorayama and Olivia de Berardinis, whose distinctive approaches to the human body, glamour, and sensuality particularly appeal to her.
She primarily works with oil on canvas, as well as watercolour and ink on paper. In her figurative, hyperrealistic imagery, she explores sensuality, intimacy, desire, eroticism, and BDSM. She is particularly fascinated by the visual representation of the feeling of being loved, desired, and self-determined. At the same time, she explores the playful, unconventional, and at times provocative facets of sexuality and identity. Bright, expressive colours often find their way into her works, creating an exciting contrast to the realism and intimacy of the depicted figures.
Her relationship with the human body was shaped in an unexpected way. After experiencing bullying in two previous office jobs, she began searching for a completely new direction and eventually found herself working as a lap dancer. This experience fundamentally challenged her perceptions of beauty and the female body. She encountered women of all ages and with diverse body shapes and sizes, and through this, she learned to appreciate the extraordinary diversity of human bodies and individual expressions of femininity. This experience became a significant influence on her artistic practice and her interest in depicting the human body, particularly through sensual imagery and lingerie.
Throughout her life, she repeatedly experienced societal pressure, being made to feel that there was something wrong with her body – it was too thin, too big, or something to be ashamed of. Her art has become a way to reclaim this narrative. Through sensual and erotic depictions, she explores sexuality, self-confidence, vulnerability, and self-acceptance, celebrating the body as something beautiful instead of viewing it as something to be hidden or judged.
The focus of her work is currently predominantly on depicting the female body, while her artistic practice is increasingly expanding to a greater diversity of genders and identities. Queer perspectives, individuality, and the freedom of personal expression are particularly important to her. She wants to create art that questions restrictive notions of beauty, sexuality, and identity.
In addition to her creative engagement with these themes, she places great importance on treating intimate and BDSM-related content with respect and integrity. She is committed to ethical collaboration with her models and aims to depict sexuality, intimacy, and power in a way that recognises the individuality, self-determination, and dignity of the individuals portrayed.
Ultimately, her work is about connection: the desire to be seen, desired, accepted, and self-determined. Through hyperrealistic figures, expressive colours, and intimate pictorial themes, she invites viewers to contemplate the beauty and complexity of the human body – and at the same time to question why sensuality and sexuality are so often treated as something to be ashamed of.
Her work is an ongoing exploration of bodies, identity, desire, and freedom – driven by the conviction that beauty lies in embracing who we are and having the freedom to choose how we express ourselves.
