The Boiler Room, Jam Factory, 2016. A new career and a new artist for Oxfordshire.
Elaine Kazimierczuk came to live in Oxford in September 2016 and this move was to prove pivotal in her development as an artist. Although a late-starter, her arrival in Oxford enabled her emergence onto the art scene which was immediate and interest in her work soon escalated. Realising that the Jam Factory was a stone’s throw from where she would be living on Osney Island, before she moved to the city, she made contact with the gallery and was immediately offered a solo exhibition, which would open only two months after she took up residence. The following year she had a hugely successful open studios event as part of Oxfordshire Artweeks, going on to receive the Mary Moser Prize (awarded to those taking up art as a second career) in 2018.
The Jam Factory has become an increasingly important venue for art and part of Oxford’s local art scene. The name Boiler Room is derived from its original use; until 1958, Frank Cooper’s marmalade was made in the room now used as a gallery.
Even before arriving in Oxford, Elaine Kazimierczuk had already secured representation by Wychwood Art, Deddington. It was pure coincidence that not long after, she came to live in the county.