K: How did you become the head of the Textile Art Studio at the Magdalena Abakanowicz University of the Arts in Poznań, and what led you to where you are now?
D: When I finished my degree in graphic design, I had the opportunity to study for a year at the Textile Art Studio. In my final year I went to Bratislava on a scholarship and after returning, I completed and defended my diploma. By that time, I already knew that when I graduated from university, I wanted to share my knowledge and teach others. I knew there wasn’t really a place for me in Poznań. I didn’t want to stay, only to struggle with the difficulties of everyday life, so I had to look for a job. Even before finishing my diploma, I sent my CV to various art schools in Poland. I received a few offers, went to a couple of interviews, and finally got a job at an arts high school quite far from Poznań, in the town of Jarosław in the Subcarpathian region. My future husband and I moved there, to eastern Poland, and started everything from scratch. I lived there for two years, and I had a lot of energy during that time, although I knew it was a bit of a forgotten place, far from the big centres. I found working with students professionally fulfilling, I went to plein-air workshops, and I guided and supervised students in their first artistic graduation works. We lived in the old town area of Jarosław, the cost of living was minimal compared to Poznań. It was very close to Przemyśl, the mountains and Ukraine. After a year, I realised that in order to continue having that much energy for teaching and artistic work, I also had to think about self-development. Soon after that, I submitted and defended my doctorate in Kraków. After two years, Professor Anna Goebel from the Textile Art Studio got in touch and asked if I wanted to come back to Poznań because she was looking for an assistant. For 10 years, I worked as an assistant in the studio, and I’ve been the head of the studio for two years. I work there with Lidia Wojcieszak, and Professor Goebel is the consultant.

K: Do you define yourself as a boss, leader or manager as a core part of your identity, or is there another role that is most important to you?
D: That’s a very difficult question. I think the most important thing that defines me is that I’m a mother. I’m an artist, I’m a teacher. I wouldn’t be where I am with my artistic work if I didn’t have a home and a family. That’s very important. I would definitely be in a different place and different things would be important to me. So I think those are three things that are connected. I can’t imagine pursuing art and neglecting my home. That’s why I often work at night. I start work after 8 p.m. or I do my artistic work on the days when I’m not working at the university, when the children are at school. And when the children come home, there’s always a warm dinner waiting for them. Due to the combination of these roles, I work well from home because I feel safe there and I don’t waste time commuting.

K: Do you feel there’s any gender-based prejudice in your work environment? Or the other way around, is there some kind of privilege?
D: Nothing like that has happened to me directly. Or if anything did happen, it was behind my back. I know what I can and can’t do, I’m critical of myself, but I also have a sense of self-worth, so if something like that happened to me, I’d be able to react. I also think that those sorts of tensions arise not because of gender, but simply from the desire for power and domination, because of petty jealousies within one’s environment, and a lack of tolerance and perspective on one’s own creativity. We like to surround ourselves with people who are close to us in terms of creativity and often, we’re unable to separate the fact that someone can be a good person and teacher from the fact that they might not be an interesting artist.

K: Do you think women have to work harder than men to gain recognition in the eyes of others? Does it perhaps come more easily to men, precisely because of their gender?
D: Again, my opinion might not be so popular with women, because I know that women often feel like they have to do more. I don’t think that. There are areas in which men thrive more, they have more flexibility. For example, I know that I, as a mother, am less flexible and I won’t do some of the things that my male colleagues would do at the same time, but I’m able to do other things that they don’t have the patience for, or don’t like, or don’t know how to do. That’s why I don’t want to cultivate something in myself that says I should do less or I should do more… I do as much as I am able. And I do it so that I’m satisfied with something and so that I fulfill my obligations. In all the years I’ve worked at the university, I have never been late for work, I’ve very rarely taken sick leave, and of course, children often get sick. I’ve made an effort. Maybe that’s why I don’t know what boredom is. Fortunately, I live in an environment where I’m not affected by gender-based prejudices. Probably more position-based, but I always tell myself that there are more important things and not to let myself be manipulated, not to be held hostage to particular situations.

K: Did you feel the difference when you became the head of the Textile Art Studio, compared to your previous roles as a teacher or assistant?
D: Yes, I felt the difference. Now I’m creating the studio program and signing off on it, the responsibility rests with me from now on. At the same time, I don’t feel any difference when it comes to the administrative work related to the studio, because I did it before as an assistant, when I was trained in how to create study programs, plans, syllabuses, and how to manage the university system. I feel responsible for running one such studio at the university. There’s also an important part of art history that is now in my hands. I think it’s also a mental change and certainly a kind of distinction, an honour. I feel joy when I see a student come up with an idea, or overcome their limitations, or experience new things that were previously unknown to them. But the dilemma remains – should we be more demanding or give more freedom … ?

K: How did you become the head of the Textile Art Studio at the Magdalena Abakanowicz University of the Arts in Poznań, and what led you to where you are now?
D: When I finished my degree in graphic design, I had the opportunity to study for a year at the Textile Art Studio. In my final year I went to Bratislava on a scholarship and after returning, I completed and defended my diploma. By that time, I already knew that when I graduated from university, I wanted to share my knowledge and teach others. I knew there wasn’t really a place for me in Poznań. I didn’t want to stay, only to struggle with the difficulties of everyday life, so I had to look for a job. Even before finishing my diploma, I sent my CV to various art schools in Poland. I received a few offers, went to a couple of interviews, and finally got a job at an arts high school quite far from Poznań, in the town of Jarosław in the Subcarpathian region. My future husband and I moved there, to eastern Poland, and started everything from scratch. I lived there for two years, and I had a lot of energy during that time, although I knew it was a bit of a forgotten place, far from the big centres. I found working with students professionally fulfilling, I went to plein-air workshops, and I guided and supervised students in their first artistic graduation works. We lived in the old town area of Jarosław, the cost of living was minimal compared to Poznań. It was very close to Przemyśl, the mountains and Ukraine. After a year, I realised that in order to continue having that much energy for teaching and artistic work, I also had to think about self-development. Soon after that, I submitted and defended my doctorate in Kraków. After two years, Professor Anna Goebel from the Textile Art Studio got in touch and asked if I wanted to come back to Poznań because she was looking for an assistant. For 10 years, I worked as an assistant in the studio, and I’ve been the head of the studio for two years. I work there with Lidia Wojcieszak, and Professor Goebel is the consultant.

K: Do you define yourself as a boss, leader or manager as a core part of your identity, or is there another role that is most important to you?
D: That’s a very difficult question. I think the most important thing that defines me is that I’m a mother. I’m an artist, I’m a teacher. I wouldn’t be where I am with my artistic work if I didn’t have a home and a family. That’s very important. I would definitely be in a different place and different things would be important to me. So I think those are three things that are connected. I can’t imagine pursuing art and neglecting my home. That’s why I often work at night. I start work after 8 p.m. or I do my artistic work on the days when I’m not working at the university, when the children are at school. And when the children come home, there’s always a warm dinner waiting for them. Due to the combination of these roles, I work well from home because I feel safe there and I don’t waste time commuting.

K: Do you feel there’s any gender-based prejudice in your work environment? Or the other way around, is there some kind of privilege?
D: Nothing like that has happened to me directly. Or if anything did happen, it was behind my back. I know what I can and can’t do, I’m critical of myself, but I also have a sense of self-worth, so if something like that happened to me, I’d be able to react. I also think that those sorts of tensions arise not because of gender, but simply from the desire for power and domination, because of petty jealousies within one’s environment, and a lack of tolerance and perspective on one’s own creativity. We like to surround ourselves with people who are close to us in terms of creativity and often, we’re unable to separate the fact that someone can be a good person and teacher from the fact that they might not be an interesting artist.

K: Do you think women have to work harder than men to gain recognition in the eyes of others? Does it perhaps come more easily to men, precisely because of their gender?
D: Again, my opinion might not be so popular with women, because I know that women often feel like they have to do more. I don’t think that. There are areas in which men thrive more, they have more flexibility. For example, I know that I, as a mother, am less flexible and I won’t do some of the things that my male colleagues would do at the same time, but I’m able to do other things that they don’t have the patience for, or don’t like, or don’t know how to do. That’s why I don’t want to cultivate something in myself that says I should do less or I should do more… I do as much as I am able. And I do it so that I’m satisfied with something and so that I fulfill my obligations. In all the years I’ve worked at the university, I have never been late for work, I’ve very rarely taken sick leave, and of course, children often get sick. I’ve made an effort. Maybe that’s why I don’t know what boredom is. Fortunately, I live in an environment where I’m not affected by gender-based prejudices. Probably more position-based, but I always tell myself that there are more important things and not to let myself be manipulated, not to be held hostage to particular situations.

K: Did you feel the difference when you became the head of the Textile Art Studio, compared to your previous roles as a teacher or assistant?
D: Yes, I felt the difference. Now I’m creating the studio program and signing off on it, the responsibility rests with me from now on. At the same time, I don’t feel any difference when it comes to the administrative work related to the studio, because I did it before as an assistant, when I was trained in how to create study programs, plans, syllabuses, and how to manage the university system. I feel responsible for running one such studio at the university. There’s also an important part of art history that is now in my hands. I think it’s also a mental change and certainly a kind of distinction, an honour. I feel joy when I see a student come up with an idea, or overcome their limitations, or experience new things that were previously unknown to them. But the dilemma remains – should we be more demanding or give more freedom … ?

K: What was the first step on your path towards artistic-ceramic work and what was the turning point in your career?
M: It all started when I began my studies as part of the Erasmus programme in the Netherlands, in the city of Maastricht, and I stayed there for the entire second year of my course – I was blown away by the ceramics studio there. It was very well equipped; the classes were extremely interesting and the actual process of creating the ceramics was also extremely satisfying. The classes focused on moulding and casting from plaster moulds. It wasn’t modelling from a piece of clay, by hand; it wasn’t turning on a wheel either. Instead, it was an introduction to a very industrial process, the way it’s done in factories: casting from plaster moulds. It was very interesting for me and satisfying in the sense that you make a mould and from that, you get objects that are very similar to each other, they’re identical, and in this way, you can control the manufacturing process really well. It was a kind of trigger for my initial interest in ceramics; that was 12 years ago. Later on, I was always involved with ceramics, to a greater or lesser extent, and the turning point after finishing my studies was getting a subsidy from the Employment Office in Poznań for a kiln and a potter’s wheel, so that I could do prototyping. There was also enough money for some small pieces of equipment for the studio, and that was the moment when I decided that I definitely wanted to continue developing in this direction, and most likely develop and transform these interests into a potential business.

K: Your doctoral thesis, ‘A Dream of a Region’, must have been an important moment artistically as well?
M: Yes, that was another turning point on my professional, artistic and ceramics-related path. I really wanted to create a collection of objects that would represent my home region of Greater Poland. I always found it uneventful and uninteresting, and I simply set myself the challenge to find anchors for a contemporary collection of regional ceramics that would be intriguing, that would be related to recycling, and that would also be related to the old firing techniques. I also wanted to incorporate some research into my doctoral thesis on the old, historical Raugo technique. It’s a firing method of the Baltic peoples that involves immersing pottery in sourdough starter, which creates very smoky marks on the surface of the pottery. And this collection was another reason both for artistic fulfilment, and for later implementation in sales terms.

K: Do you feel like you are primarily a leader and creator when it comes to your identity?
M: The association that immediately comes to mind is the word ‘designer’ – and creator is included in this, because I definitely create, first the concept, and then I make the physical object. The design process itself is very pedestrian and involves checking the capacity of the vessels, their dimensions, planning the production process, coming up with pigment compositions, thinking about the glazing method – all of this, in my opinion, is primarily related to the design and planning of a certain process, and then executing it in detail and in the best possible way. There’s not much room here for spontaneity either, it’s more based on good knowledge of the technology. On the other hand, I do try not to limit myself to the definition of a ceramics manufacturer who just churns out mugs, so it’s very important for me to operate on both tracks and to fulfil the role of someone who designs, plans, and then sells specific patterns. These are repetitive and somewhat tedious activities, so it’s very important for me to keep that second track, which is experimental and conceptual. I want to combine these two things in my work.

K: In the area you’ve chosen – broadly defined as ceramics – it’s probably mostly women designers, women creators, craftswomen. Do you generally feel that gender can cause prejudice in the design industry?
M: Right from the point of transforming creative and imaginative work into business, those competencies in creating a business that earns money are very much needed, and I’m still learning some of them from my father, who is an entrepreneur through and through. You need skills in management, planning, and talking to clients, and I’m learning all of this on an ongoing basis as I fulfil each new order. Sometimes these are very difficult lessons, like when you suddenly find out that someone took advantage of your good will – that’s difficult. I think that some of these negotiation and management skills are associated with some sort of masculine element, but I try not to ask myself questions like: ‘What am I missing because of my gender?’ I just try to do my job well and realise the plan I have for myself, regardless. There have been situations in the past where someone has belittled my design skills because of my gender, but that’s probably a generational issue.

K: Have you noticed that women put more effort into the tasks they perform than men?
M: Yes, I feel that’s the case, and sometimes I’m that person who tries to put in more work and effort to prove that there’s a reason I’ve got to where I am. And even if I try to keep an eye on it and tell myself that I have the competences and I don’t have to make up for it with additional hard work or greater effort, sometimes it comes completely naturally and I can take on the role of a person who will try to do something exceptionally well, who will be flexible. This also comes from running your own business – you’re sort of in it all the time, but you’re also constantly showing that you really care.

K: Do you see a difference between a person who is employed in a similar field and a person who is an independent entrepreneur on whom everything depends, as well as being a self-made woman or bosswoman?
M: I really, really value that and I feel that doing work on my own terms is extremely important to me – as a human being – and a huge life value in general. Of course, there are two sides to this freedom – at the end of the day, I’m responsible for everything in this business. On the one hand, I can be a control freak who likes to have everything in check, and I also find that quite satisfying, but it’s exhausting sometimes. I’m responsible for contacting clients, arranging deliveries, making the ceramics, but also for making sure that I fulfil myself conceptually as well. Sometimes I dream of expanding my team, but even if I did, I would still like the work to be on my terms, in my own studio, where I make the exact patterns I want, where I plan my own schedule, which is also very important to me.