ARTMALIST
An artistic studio that I established in 2017 and have been running for several years in the very heart of Upper Silesia - Katowice.
I am pleased to welcome you to my website. My name is Liliana Białas, and I create realistic models of birds, mammals, and insects. The idea of sculpting models sprouted in me when, while working on exhibitions in museums and ecological education centers, I noticed the problem of accessibility to specimens of rare bird species.
Although sculpture has accompanied me since childhood—my father is a well-known and respected artist in my mountain village—I have never pursued it professionally. The beginnings of sculpting birds were not easy, but I managed to master the techniques suitable for creating realistic sculptures, as well as reproducing them to enable high-level nature education in various institutions.
In the course of our collaboration, exhibitions were created in:
- Nature Museum of the Świętokrzyskie National Park,
- Nature Museum in Ciężkowice named after K. and W. Tomków,
- Forest Chamber at Przysłopie,
- Forest Center for Ecological Education in Istebna,
- Center for Forestry Promotion in Muczne (Forest District Stuposiany),
- Center for the Promotion of State Forests in Goraj-Zamek,
- City Hall of Bielsko-Biała,
Over the years, model making has become my passion and I continue to undertake new species of birds and mammals - I now have over 100 different species to my name! Each year, I develop better techniques and prioritize quality over speed of execution. I have reached such a level of nature representation that my models have become competitive in the global market.
Thanks to my collaboration with Studio 660 m n.p.m. and Kat City Arte, I have previously gained extensive experience in creating natural history museum exhibitions, dioramas, and broadly understood nature education. These companies specialize in equipping museums and educational centers, producing dioramas, models, and nature boards. Over the last 20 years, they have earned recognition among many forest districts, national parks, schools, and museums.
I start my work on the new model by conducting thorough research, searching for photos, recordings, detailed descriptions, scientific studies, and measurements. I use atlases, guides, and specialized databases that store images of feathers and beaks. For the sculptures, I use the most durable resins available on the market, which also offer a low weight for the finished model—important in the case of birds mounted on branches or models of predatory birds in flying positions, which are suspended from the ceiling with wires.
I aim for the highest precision in creating the models and their durability so that they can serve educational purposes for decades. All sculptures are also hand-painted by me for the most accurate depiction of colors. I refine each sculpture down to the smallest detail because often it is these details that distinguish a given species or differentiate it from its "cousin."