Every week, Art to Collect by ArtDependence brings together an exceptional curation of works that reflect the pulse of contemporary art today, offering collectors, new and seasoned alike, a window into some of the most compelling creative practices around the world.
Collecting art is never simply about acquiring objects; it is about embracing stories, ideas, and sensibilities that deepen one’s way of seeing the world. For many collectors, the most rewarding works are those that combine craftsmanship with narrative depth and art that lingers in memory and transforms a room into a space of reflection.
On ‘Art to Collect’, a platform committed to presenting the most exciting voices in contemporary art, we are highlighting artists whose works straddle personal history, cultural resonance, and sheer visual allure.
Marta Jastrzębska-Macko's work bridges art, energy, and spirituality. Her canvases are created with clear intention – to bring light, resonance, and transformation into the lives and spaces they enter.
Each painting is an intuitive process, guided by silence, presence, and a dialogue with color. Working primarily with acrylic and oil, the artist layer textures and tones to reveal what words cannot: the subtle vibrations of emotion, the essence of spirit, and the meeting of shadow and illumination. Her works often appear as “energetic landscapes of the soul” – living fields of energy rather than static images.
Beyond the studio, Jastrzębska-Macko shares this creative process through workshops and intentional commissions, supporting others in discovering their own inner light and creative power. Her mission is not only to paint but to create portals of healing, hope, and beauty that resonate far beyond the canvas.
She says: "For me, art is an act of connection. It is a reminder that beauty can transform, that energy can heal, and that each of us carries within us a spark waiting to be awakened."
Marta Jastrzębska-Macko, Contact 2025 Acrylic on Canvas
Michele De Agostini: "Intuition is probably the only factor that constantly fuels my art. I am what I do and I do what I am, it is a privilege and a curse."
His language is primarily corporeal, dotted with subjects often psychological and metaphorical. Domenico wants his paintings to reflect snapshot moments without getting lost in detail, because detail is a consequence of abstraction.
Michele De Agostini, La Semantica e la Semiotica 2025 Acrylic on Canvas
"The truth is that I paint myself ... and therefore the battle of my own body with age, my own fears, and my fascination with death.
That fascination began at an early age because my father was preoccupied with death. His mother passed away at a young age and the subject was taboo, nothing could be said about her death. This had such an impact on his thoughts that as an adult he conducted a thorough investigation on whether there is life after death. The voices of deceased people and the radio program The Black Hole with psychic André Groote filled the living room on Sunday afternoons.
His fascination also became mine, but this only became apparent years later when I was in art school. I made installations made of skins, meat heads, empty cocoons, and baby skins. What appealed to me was the contrast between the tangible and the intangible of the body, the familiar contrasts with the distance that I feel in my body.
The sudden death of a close friend during my time at the academy reinforced this feeling. The distance to my own body and my mistrust of it became even greater. Would my body also betray me in this manner? What followed was a long search that is still on-going, a search for the acceptance of transience.
In the early stages, I created paintings in which human forms were visible. I painted these in a detached manner: I removed heads, the bodies were decorative, eye-contact was almost non-existent, there was no contact with the viewer. As my work developed I became closer to the skin, from strange perspectives I showed the alienation to my own body. My fascination with the body deepened, I began to paint other people, especially those who deviate from the ideal of beauty. But even more, I really wanted to paint people like you and me, a universal image of the aging person. Staying true to myself, I have confined myself to the female body."
Francien Krieg, Alone with my Thoughts, 2010 Oil on Panel
Maria Husarska, a Krakow-based artist with deep family roots in art, works across painting, ceramics, photography, and film. She weaves together expressive abstraction, geometric precision, calligraphic forms, and organic ceramics, infusing tradition with modern, color-rich experimentation.
Her evocative works—often centered on transformation, transience, and vibrant natural forms—radiate the energy of life experiences, inviting viewers to sense both poetic vitality and the complexity of human emotion.
She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, Faculty of Painting, with a diploma titled "Inner and Outer Horizon" in the Interdisciplinary Studio, and a thesis titled "Identity" in the Photography Studio. She hold a Master of Fine Arts degree. And she graduated from the Katowice Film School, Faculty of Radio and Television, with a major in Film Production Organization, and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Film Arts.
Maria Husarska, Elan Vital, 2025 acrylic, oil pastel on canvas
Giuseppe Pastore
Giuseppe Pastore transitioned from a scientific background with a degree in Physics to become a passionate painter. His artistic journey began unexpectedly with acrylics, serving as a liberating escape from anxiety and a way to explore the infinite, movement, and symbolic depth. Over time, Giuseppe evolved from chaotic, spontaneous works to a more introspective approach, emphasizing oil paints and technical mastery.
His art reflects a personal quest to balance light and matter, capturing the universe’s boundless energy through vibrant, immersive compositions. His work merges rational thought with intuitive insight, aiming to evoke deep emotional and sensory experiences that bridge science and poetry.
Giuseppe Pastore, Leggero 2024 Oil on canvas
„Drawing inspiration from my love to nature, I want to create and dive into a universe where the distractions of the outside world fade away. Into a place where I can wholeheartedly trust my inner voice, allowing me to transmute negative energy into something positive and beautiful. It is within this undefined space that I seek to explore the depths of creativity and tranquility, fostering a harmonious connection with nature and the self.“
Katherine Ann Miller, Spring Walk 2025 Acrylic, spray paint ink and pigments on paper
On “Art to Collect”, these voices stand as reminders that art is most powerful when it carries stories worth holding onto. To live with a piece by Jastrzębska-Macko, Krieg, De Agostini, Husarska, Pastore and Ann Miller is to live with a fragment of the human condition translated into line, colour, and form. For the discerning art lover, that is the kind of art that endures.
Main Image: Francien Krieg, Delicate Flesh 2010