Interview with Edel Cassidy
Award-winning contemporary artist, painter and designer Kasia Davies creates bold acrylic works inspired by Pop Art and Impressionism. Her signature paintings are defined by luminous colour and poetic portrayals of women in water that evoke both strength and mystery. A first-prize recipient of the ITSLIQUID Art Competition and a YICCA 2025 finalist, her work has gained international recognition, with Besties featured on the cover of Flow (France) and Summer in Menton appearing on Hannah Selinger’s thriller, Valley of the Moms.
EC Congratulations on winning the Anthology Cover Art Award. Tell me a little about the winning work.
KD Thank you so much. Capri Blue is a painting that explores light, femininity and the emotional symbolism of water. Inspired by the beauty of Capri and the Mediterranean palette, the work has a subtle retro atmosphere and celebrates timeless feminine elegance and calm.
The figure is immersed in an intensely blue environment that represents both serenity and depth – calm on the surface, yet rich with inner meaning. For me, water is a space of transformation and strength, and blue carries both emotional and luminous qualities. I wanted the painting to feel radiant and sunlit while still holding a quiet, introspective mood.
I’m honoured that Capri Blue resonated with the jury and was selected for the Anthology Cover Art Award. It feels like a beautiful recognition of my ongoing exploration of women, light and water as recurring themes in my work.
EC Your work is often described as a dialogue between Pop Art and Impressionism. How do you balance those two distinct voices in a single composition?
KD I see Pop Art and Impressionism not as opposing forces, but as complementary ways of seeing. Pop Art brings boldness, immediacy and a focus on contemporary culture, while Impressionism offers atmosphere and attention to light and movement.
In my work, I balance these voices by letting each serve a different purpose: Pop Art often dictates the colour palette and the visual punch, while Impressionism shapes the mood. I think of it as a conversation on the canvas – sometimes one voice dominates, sometimes they merge into harmony – always aiming to create a piece that feels both familiar and unexpected.
EC What role does colour play in your work? Do youstart with a palette in mind or does it evolve as you go?
KD Colour plays a major part in my work. I follow the same process. I usually have initial ideas of what colours I want when creating my mood board. Oftentimes, this can change as I work on the ideation part of the process. I then find the colours I want by creating three different colour compositions. I see which composition best suits the tone I am aiming for, and go with that palette. Finally, I take the piece to completion, focusing on all the details, and enjoy the painting process.
EC Water is a constant presence in your paintings. What draws you to water as a subject?
KD Water fascinates me because it’s both ever-changing and timeless. Its surface can be calm and reflective, capturing light and colour in fleeting ways, or turbulent and dynamic, full of energy and motion.
Painting water allows me to explore light, texture and emotion simultaneously – it’s a mirror of the world and of our own inner states. There’s something meditative about its movement, and something endlessly challenging about capturing its depth and fluidity on canvas.
EC How do the places you have lived – Poland, London, Spain – inspire your work?
KD Each place I’ve lived has left a distinct imprint on my work. Poland gave me a deep connection to history and a sensitivity to light and landscape. London exposed me to a vibrant, eclectic urban energy and a boldness in colour and form. Spain brought warmth, intensity and an appreciation for the rhythm and emotion of everyday life. Moving between these cultures has taught me to see the world through multiple lenses, and that dialogue between places often becomes the heartbeat of my paintings.
EC You have a background in theatre, interior design and music production. Do you work primarily as an artist now or are you still involved in those disciplines?
KD While I now work primarily as a visual artist, my background in theatre, interior design and music production continues to influence everything I do. Theatre taught me about storytelling and stagecraft, interior design sharpened my sense of space and composition, and music production trained me to think about rhythm, layering and mood. Even when I’m painting, I often draw on those disciplines to create work that feels immersive and multidimensional.
EC I believe that you work almost exclusively in acrylic. What keeps you loyal to the medium, and what does it give you that others can’t?
KD I’m drawn to acrylic because of its versatility and immediacy. It dries quickly, which lets me layer, rework and experiment without losing momentum, and its vibrancy allows colours to retain their intensity in ways other mediums often can’t. Acrylic gives me a balance between control and spontaneity – I can build precise details or let the paint flow freely, all within the same piece.
EC How do you hope viewers connect with your work – what kind of response or emotion do you ideally like to inspire?
KD I hope viewers – whether they’re finding themselves, their loved ones, sisters, daughters or wives – experience a sense of curiosity and discovery in my work. I want them to pause and notice details they might not expect, from subtle plays of light to bold colour contrasts or hidden narratives. My paintings often evoke nostalgia, inviting moments of reflection and memory, as well as joy. If someone walks away feeling seen, moved or gently transported to a familiar feeling or memory, that’s exactly the connection I hope to create.
EC Any plans for the future? With such a varied background, is there still a medium, theme or format you would like to explore?
KD I’m always curious and open to exploration. While I’ve worked primarily in acrylics, I’m interested in pushing the boundaries of scale, texture and even mixed media – perhaps incorporating elements of sound, light or immersive installation. Conceptually, I’m drawn to themes of memory, identity and the connections between people and places, but I also want to experiment with new ways of storytelling that surprise both me and the viewer. My background in theatre, music and design constantly reminds me that creativity doesn’t have to stay in one lane – there’s always something new to discover.
- ‘Kasia Davies’ is published in Anthology Volume 25. Read more features from this volume or buy it now.
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