The book Widziałem Pięknego Dzięcioła [I Saw a Beautiful Woodpecker], with Stiasna’s illustrations and text compiled from the authentic diary of Michał Skibiński in 1939 (at the time an eight-year-old boy) has won a number of prizes and awards, including: graphic distinction in the 2019 Book of the Year competition of the Polish section of IBBY, distinction in the OPERA PRIMA category in the 2020 BolognaRagazzi Award, Special Jury Prize Premio Andersen 2022, El Premio Muestra del Libro Infantil y Juvenil Award for 2020 and several nominations for other awards (including the Prix Sorcières 2021 in the fiction category, the most important French children’s book award). The book has also been translated and published in France, South Korea, Spain, the UK, Germany and Italy. 'This is not another heroic tale of struggle. It is an honest account of a child who learns that evil is approaching,' said Stiasny in an interview with the author of the blog O ludziach, którzy robią swoje.
In 2019, her first solo exhibition took place – at the Oranżeria Gallery in the palace and park complex in Radzyń Podlaski. In the same year, the painting Pieta brought her an award in the VeniceLands ArtPrize competition. In March 2022, her painting exhibition Ja, Kobieta [I, a Woman] was held at the Cultural Centre in Jazdów, combined with the artist’s weekend lectures on feminist theory and women’s art.
She has participated in many national and international group exhibitions (outside of Poland in, inter alia, London, Berlin, Bishkek and Ponzano Veneto). She was among the artists participating in the exhibition Masters of Polish Illustration organised by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and presented in Suncheon and Seoul, South Korea.
Originally written in Polish by Marcelina Obarska, translated by Patryk Grabowski, July 2022.
