DOMINIKA LIPNIEWSKA
CLUSTER x THE ILLUSTRATORS’ FAIR : “THE ILLUSTRATION RESIDENCY EDIT”
2026
Dominika Lipniewska is a London-based independent illustrator, artist and designer. Originally from Gdańsk, Poland, she trained in graphic design at Central Saint Martins and children's book illustration at Cambridge School of Art and has been working independently since 2013.
Working with bold line and shape, Dominika creates graphic, symbol-rich imagery and abstract characters that carry stories and hidden meanings. Her practice spans editorial illustration, children's books, murals, print and design. She has published books with Tate Publishing, Gallimard and Munch Museum. Her other clients include Tate Modern & Britain, Financial Times, Harvard Business Review, Wallpaper Magazine, Wired Magazine, Uniqlo and Pepsi.
Alongside her studio practice, Dominika teaches short courses at Central Saint Martins and has spent over a decade leading creative workshops with schools, museums and communities across the UK, Europe, India and Sri Lanka, guided by a belief in art's power to connect people, build resilience and support well-being.
“My practice moves between illustration and fine art, but at its core is a fascination with line, shape and pattern as a language of their own. I build compositions from bold geometric forms, letting them become characters, symbols and abstract portraits that carry stories without needing to explain themselves.
Much of this work grows out of close observation of everyday life - urban corners, the quiet rhythm of a street, natural shapes. But increasingly my personal practice moves away from narrative and toward something more intuitive. In my ongoing series called ‘play forms’ I work with soft pastel, pencil and acrylic to create shapes and forms intended to hold and radiate good energy, allowing layered marks and considered imperfections to shape each piece as much as any plan does. The results sit between structure and spontaneity - playful, rhythmic, sometimes deliberately unresolved.
Growing up in Gdańsk, where an industrial shipyard sits alongside a strong art scene, gave me an early instinct for finding beauty in unlikely combinations and that tension between order and looseness still drives my work. Whether in a painting or a print, I'm interested in balance - of colour, form and texture - and in making pieces that feel both considered and alive.”
