• born in 1944 in Poland
• immigrated to Toronto, Ontario in 1967
• Fine Arts Academy, Warsaw, Poland (1962-1964); Universidad Catolica, Lima, Peru (1965); studied, Art Institute of Chicago, Interior Design and Textile Design (1964-1967)

click on thumbnails at left to view larger images

In the early part of her career Joanna Staniszkis experimented with texture and handspun yarns and dyes, then her explorations evolved and she began focussing on form and construction methods combining her woven and unstructured fabric with plexiglass and netting. In 1987 Staniszkis was commissioned to produce a six panel tapestry representing Vancouver’s skyline. This work was woven out of hundreds of dyed silk ribbons, fabric which had been cut from an old cargo parachute. Recognized for her innovative and experimental contemporary textile production Joanna Staniszkis's art is nevertheless shaped and informed by her knowledge of traditional textile art and her interest in Oriental carpets and ancient Peruvian tunics. She is also influenced by the architectural forms of her native Poland, and has studied ancient weaving techniques on visits to Perus and Bolivia. As Elizabeth Johnson has commented: "The art of Joanna Staniszkis echoes the traditions which inspired it and brings their images forward in brilliant and forceful realizations. They are boldly contemporary statements, but reminiscent of other times and places" (1989). In 1989 the University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology presented Translations of Tradition: Joanna Staniszkis' Recent Work, enabling the artist to pay homage to the textile art from the various cultures that stimulated her work. Staniszkis's works were exhibited alongside Uzbeki coats, Chinese robes, Chinese cross-stitch embroideries and ancient Peruvian textiles. As she wrote in the exhibition catalogue, "I am offering textiles which echo tradition--my own translations of tradition into a form which is contemporary . . . I am searching for a new form for traditional techniques. I am combining precious materials: silk combined with plexiglass, which looks like glass, like crystal; cross-stitch embroidery translated into computer-generated crosses of silk on plexiglass." Staniszkis returns to Poland regularly and has collaborated with Polish craft workers in the designing of fashions and textiles for the home. From 1969 to 1977 Staniszkis was a professor in the Design Department at the University of British Columbia and from 1977 to 1978 she was Acting Head of the Textile Department at the Ontario College of Art. She later resumed teaching at the University of British Columbia in the Department of Design. In 1981 Staniszkis received the Saidye Bronfman Award for Excellence in recognition of contributions she made to the field of textile art.

Waikato Museum of Art, Hamilton, New Zealand

Owen Bird, Vancouver, British Columbia

Johnson, Elizabeth.  Translations of Tradition: Joanna Staniszkis' Recent Work. Vancouver, British Columbia: University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology, 1989.

---. "Translations of Tradition: Joanna Staniszkis' recent work." Muse 7, no. 3 (Fall 1989): 30-31, 40-41.

Johnson, Jean and John E. Vollmer, Milrod Constantine, et al. Three Canadian Fibre Artists: Gregor, Rousseau-Vermette, Staniszkis. Windsor, Ontario: Art Gallery of Windsor, 1981.

Killam, Sherry. "From the boudoir to the battle field." Fiberarts 22 (Summer 1995): 50-51.

Langston, Laura, et al. "Masters of craft." Beautiful British Columbia Magazine 33, no. 4 (Winter 1991): 14-21.

Lightstone, Susan. "A place to call home (Immigrants who have made a contribution to Canada)." Ottawa Magazine 11, no. 8 (December 1991): 20-26.

Smith, Paul J., Joanna Staniszkis, and Jacques Anquetil. Québec/Ontario Crafts, 1979/80. Toronto, Ontario: Ontario Crafts Council, 1979.

Tuele, Nicholas. Bronfman Award Recipients from British Columbia and Their Commonwealth Colleagues. Victoria, British Columbia: Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, 1994.