Lori-Ann Urbanski, born in Düsseldorf, works primarily in figurative painting, where she explores the boundaries between the familiar and the unsettling. Her compositions are characterized by distorted limbs, shifted proportions, and an atmosphere that moves between the surreal, the humorous, and the melancholic. She creates a visual world that resists normative expectations and draws its energy from the state of being different.

Her imagery aims for a balance between what feels familiar and what appears alien. At first glance, her scenes seem recognizable and almost intimate, yet subtle disruptions prompt viewers to look again and question what they see. Within these moments of uncertainty, the figures inhabit a realm that is both accessible and estranged. Nudity and avant-garde clothing serve as expressions of identity rather than provocation, and their significance becomes visible through gestures, posture, and the emotional tension in each face.

Urbanski’s characters embody contradictory emotional states. They appear cool and exhausted, defiant and quietly arrogant, all at the same time. Her portraits move between sincerity and irony, closeness and distance, and beauty and the grotesque. Instead of offering fixed narratives, the paintings open a space that encourages viewers to form their own interpretations.

At the core of her practice lies a celebration of radical selfhood. Urbanski’s work embraces individuality beyond categories, roles, and expectations. Her figures reflect what is unapologetic, eccentric, bold, and vulnerable, and they acknowledge the absurd not as something hidden, but as something essential.

Her work is shaped by an interest in classical painting, especially the Renaissance. She draws on its sense of grandeur, emotional intensity, and formal clarity, and brings these elements into dialogue with a contemporary sensibility. This creates a dynamic tension between tradition and the intentional absurdity of her figures, resulting in a visual language that feels both timeless and unmistakably current.

Education

2021–present | Studies in Fine Arts at the Kunstakademie Münster
2022 |Class of Prof. Michael Van Ofen
2023 | Class of Prof. Michael Sistig
2025 | Class of Prof. Juliette Blightman

Exhibitions

2025 | Art hoc Exhibition, Galopprennbahn Düsseldorf
2024 | Kuboshow Art Fair
2023 | Class Exhibition at 57th Gallery, Seoul
2023 | Group Exhibition at Hawerkamp Studios (Artist Collective)