"The heritage project was one that will always be close to my heart. The artwork(to the left) essentially tells the story of my family's heritage.

A little about the piece..

It is a stamp page from a collection book, with a mixture of original polish stamps and the stamps I have created myself. Each stamp produced by me has a different artwork contained within it. Several stamps tell the story of the events of the Second World War, when Germany and Russia invaded Poland, forcing my great-grandmother to go into hiding, moving to a small town called Ropczyce, which is my hometown. Some of the stamps feature the Pieniazek Coat of Arms, exploring the idea of my identity, had I had been born a Pieniazek rather than a Martyniuk. Before Martyniuk, my family's surname was Pieniazek, which came from one of the oldest clan's in Poland's history. As a result of the events that followed WW2, my great-grandmother had to hide her identity, as being found out to carry such a powerful family name, she would have been immediately executed. The surname Martyniuk is also featured in the stamps to honour the memory of my great-grandfather who was part of the Polish resistance movement, during the war - the largest underground resistance in all off occupied Europe.

Essentially this artwork is a homage to Poland's history and my family. "