AGATA SURMA is a Polish-American artist best known for her sensual paintings of women enveloped by rich and lustrous abstracts made of paint and varied embedded textures. She grew up in Orange County, California with her artistic father and a constant smell of oil paint around the house. Her adventure with art began at a local college, where she completed all the advanced painting, life drawing and mixed media courses under a watchful eye of a local celebrity artist Prof. A.J. Sagen.
With a Masters degree in International Development from Cambridge University, UK, Agata worked on resolving conflicts around natural resources in Africa until 2011, after which, she returned to painting full time. She spent 6 years in Panama working in her art studio and promoting arts and culture. She also co-founded and managed a local art space for emerging artists.
Agata’s artwork has been exhibited internationally, and can be found in private collections in Europe and the Americas. In 2019, she was invited for a solo exhibition at the Kosciuszko Foundation NY and later on participated in Scope NY 2020 with Kass Gallery and Artexpo New York in Spring 2022. Currently, she proudly serves as an advisory member on the board of Community Engagement, a non-profit organization based in Santa Ana, California, supporting artists and art programs that reimagine shared spaces and stimulate social engagement, creative expression and collective empowerment.
http://agatasurma.com | Instagram @agatasurmaart
EDUCATION
2009 – Masters degree in International Development Studies, Cambridge University (UK) – Queens College
2007 – Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Sciences
University of California – Berkeley
2003 – Associate of Arts degree from Santiago Canyon
College, Orange, and Santa Ana College, Santa Ana, Orange County, California