Who is Dan Zerba?

I’m a visual artist based in Wrocław, Poland. I work primarily with traditional painting, focusing on acrylics, while also exploring ink drawings and sculptural forms made from cardboard. Although my techniques vary, my practice is unified by a strong interest in emotions—how they surface through color, composition, gesture, and atmosphere.

In my portraits, I aim to capture what I feel while painting rather than constructing psychological narratives. I tap into my experiences and memory, to evoke the raw emotions. In landscapes, I’m drawn to impressions—how a scene can be translated into an emotional experience for the viewer. Much of my work centers on animals and nature, depicted in a style that balances realism with graphic simplicity. I strive to empathize with my animal subjects, truly understand their life through observing their behaviors and learning about them without simplistic anthropomorphization. I believe there is humanity in all animals, expressed through their unique vulnerability, strength, and relationships with their environment.

The scenes I paint are often vibrant and positive. This is a conscious choice. While many animals today face shrinking habitats and harsh conditions caused by human activity, my paintings offer an alternative space—one where they can exist freely, peacefully, and with dignity. These images are not meant as denial, but as emotional counterpoints: places of care, tenderness, and quiet longing. The contrast between beauty and reality is deeply personal to me, and at times emotionally overwhelming, yet it fuels my need to continue creating.

I built my practice through study of historical and contemporary artists, workshops, and sustained independent work. I have been making art since childhood, and the call to create never left me. For several years, I followed a non-artistic professional path and earned a PhD in chemistry and materials science, while studying in France. Although this background shaped my discipline, observation skills, and persistence, I eventually realized that working outside of creative independence left me disconnected from myself. Painting became not only a practice, but a necessity.

Today, I am pursuing art full-time, developing my practice with curiosity, commitment, and joy. I have never felt more aligned with what I do. Through my work, I hope to offer viewers moments of emotional resonance, gentleness, and connection—to animals, to nature, and to themselves.