Polish Armless Artist - Mariusz Konrad Kedzierski
[Fighting Against All Odds to Spread Love]
Physical limitations have never been a stumbling block to your success; thinking is the biggest obstacle to bind you from getting ahead.

—Mariusz Konrad Kedzierski

The alternative reward of disability
The young Polish artist Mariusz Konrad Kedzierski, born with only one finger, is good at realistic and hyperrealistic drawings and has won international professional awards. He said that his artistic creation has nothing special, except that he was born with no arms and always used disability as an alternative reward.

Mariusz believes that disability does not mean that you cannot have an independent and brilliant life.

Mariusz was born in 1992. When he was three years old, he began to fall in love with drawing and self-taught to become talented. He has been drawing until 20 years old but forced to stop drawing temporarily for a few years after undergoing surgery.

At the end of 2008, he began to pursue his dream of drawing again, which has continued to this day. His drawings are exported to all over the world, including the United States, Britain, and South Korea, and have exhibited in many countries.

Nothing is impossible in the world
So far, he has drawn at least 700 drawings that took him more than 15,000 hours. Mariusz said that despite being a person with only one finger, his works are incredibly delicate. He wants to let more people see hope from him through his actions, and see that there is no such thing in the world as impossible. As long as you have enough determination, you can break the bondage.

Whereby, Mariusz Konrad Kedzierski chose never to give up, embark on a journey, fulfill his dreams, create hope, inspire others, share smiles, become an active and inspiring speaker and artist, and live out in adversity. He continually surpasses limitations in life and has won the 2nd prize Best Global Artist Award in Vienna, the Global Art Awards in the Realistic Painting Category, and the prestigious title of Best Global Artist in Dubai’s Global Art Awards. He deserves to be praised as a “Polish Armless Artist,” and stood out among 2,723 recommended candidates from all over the world and earned him the “22nd Fervent Global Love of Lives Award 2019” from Taiwan’s Chou Ta-Kuan Cultural and Educational Foundation.

The Foundation welcomes all walks of life around the world at any time to recommend candidates of life warriors who possess the contexts of endeavors, love, braveness, and achievement.
 
The Fervent Global Love of Lives Medal - Chou Ta-Kuan Cultural and Educational Foundation, Taiwan
Recommended hotline: 886-2-29178770
Fax: 886-2-29178768
Address: 3F, No. 52, Mingde Road, Xindien District, New Taipei City 231, Taiwan
Website: http://www.ta.org.tw
Email: ta88ms17@gmail.com

A broken body doesn’t mean a broken heart
Mariusz, who developed a defect in the forearm, lives in a small town in Poland where the townspeople know about this character because his appearance is very different from the general child.

Despite of this, Mariusz ignores the fact that he is armless, and knows very well that he was born to be different from others.

Without hands, it is not the crux of the problem for Mariusz.

The real question is what mental attitude you have when encountered with physical defects.

Mariusz believes that there are many obstacles in life, and the happening of everything has its meanings and causes.

Physical disabilities are not the main cause of success but deny that you can’t do it, not good enough, never try, and just because you think you’ll not succeed.

This is why when people deny themselves, they think everyone is disabled.

We don’t have to deny self-possibility. When we can’t achieve something, what we need to do is don’t deny ourselves, but to seek help.

For every success, we must go through repeated and substantial exercises to get results. We don’t have to stop fighting for a dream and a bright future. Instead, we should focus on our goals because life is fleeting.

Once, Mariusz feared to be the focus when standing on stage, but art has given him different modes of thinking.

By chance, a speech has made him decide to conquer shame and then diligently practice speaking.

He understands that he doesn’t need to be ashamed of his appearance, but instead turning his weakness into an advantage and creating the value and meaning of his life.

Draws street scenes
Absence of money in Mariusz’s genes, he was unable to complete the study of interior design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Wroclaw.

According to reports from the Polish TV station, a school invited him to study drawing due to Mariusz’s talent. Not only had he qualified for free schooling, but promised by the school owner to help him hold an exhibition in New York out of appreciation.

Just when he thought his dream of studying has come true, he was dismissed from school a few months later and even had no chance to hold a painting exhibition in New York.

His disabilities caused him unable to pass the exam, and no one even wanted to help him. He knew how to do it, but he could not do it without his hands. That experience made him very depressed, but it also led him to start the “Mariusz Draws” project.

When he remembered the idol Nick Vujicic, he kept reminding himself not to give up easily, as Nick Vujicic has not beaten by his disabled body, but has even traveled often. In contrast, he has never gone anywhere.

This was the reason why Mariusz started this project.

He wants to help people, and at the same time, looks for inspiration from his travels, maybe he can find someone who can help him.

In 2015, he traveled to Europe with the drawing tools.

In 17 days, he traveled 12,000km and visited Berlin, Amsterdam, London, Paris, Barcelona, ​​Marseille, Venice, Rome, and Athens. 

Besides showing his talent while drawing on the streets of various cities, it is more important to interact with people through art.

On the streets, Mariusz sees people of all kinds. All of them have a healthy body, and some even have a good appearance.

However, when Mariusz talks with them, he found that most people are confused about their own lives, and some even wanted to give up.

Everyone has flaws, and most of the defects of many people come from the soul.

He has discovered the development of people’s depleted soul while watching people bustling through the crowd when he is drawing.

Mariusz believes that we will face many difficulties in life, and most of the obstacles are originated from personal thinking.

He inspires people by telling them his own stories as examples.

Countless people don’t know their exact needs or even their hearts.

The emergence of Mariusz has given these people who are lost in their lives a chance and hope to start again.

Although we will encounter many difficulties in life, when they think of Mariusz, they shall have the motivation and energy to move on.

Determined to be an inspirational speaker
For Mariusz, 2011 was a turning point for him.

In a speech, he met Nick Vujicic.

Nick Vujicic is a Serbian-American writer, an actor, and a speaker.

When Nick Vujicic was born, he suffered from congenital extremity that prevented his limbs from developing fully.

Besides having the same appearance and similar problems, Mariusz and Nick Vujicic don’t know why they were born like these

He is impressed to see Nick Vujicic living in such a beautiful life.

Mariusz suddenly felt the flame of hope igniting within his heart and knew that he is not a worthless person.

Despite this, many people in this world have already known about the life story of Nick Vujicic.

However, it is impossible for everyone to see Nick Vujicic when they need him, so Mariusz made up his mind to become a speaker.

Nick Vujicic is the starting point for him to become a speaker.

Mariusz has never thought that he could become a speaker one day.

When he was a child, he didn’t like the stage at all. Whenever he had the opportunity to go on stage, he always stayed away from it.

For being shy, he does not like to express himself on the stage.

However, he chose to overcome shyness by practicing oral speech repeatedly and standing in front of the crowd bravely to share his life experiences.

Accomplished his dream, held an exhibition in the United States
Holding an exhibition in New York is not only the dream of many artists but also the desire of Mariusz.

Mariusz does not shy away from talking about his dream because he believes there are benefactors in life who can help us to fulfill our dreams.

More importantly, Mariusz never regards that his dream is empty talk. Once he has made up his mind, he will take action.

When he encountered the incident for being dismissed by the school and a crushed dream of the exhibition, he was not discouraged.

Although the economic situation did not allow Mariusz to hold a drawing exhibition, he never retreated. He continued to contact with all walks of life and tried to step into the American art palace.

A chance has let Mariusz land in the United States. In the past two weeks, besides talking to people in the gallery and media, he also visited many places and left his catalogs of works in other galleries. Meanwhile, he also drew at Times Square to communicate with people through art.

Three weeks after returning from New York, a Polish pastor read the news report about Mariusz through the Polish Expatriate News and took the initiative to contact him to prepare for the exhibition.

Heaven helps those who help themselves. In 2018, Mariusz made his first exhibition at the Caelum Galleon in Manhattan.

Besides having a perseverance attitude, Mariusz has also determined to work hard. He spends 4~5 hours a day practicing drawing skills. He is not anxious for success but carefully draws every detail and polishes every skill.

Mariusz, who lost his hands from a young age, must learn to deal with personal spiritual problems in addition to overcoming the inconvenience of his body.

All the way, he faced many difficulties. No one can guarantee how the future of Mariusz would fare.

Some people have even said that he could be hardly able to have a bright future; let’s face the fact, grow old and...

But it turns out that these are fundamental fallacies. Now Mariusz’s life is meaningful and even exciting.

Not only does he have an artist’s like-minded girlfriend, but has also completed his dream of opening an art exhibition and even become an outstanding speaker.

Through making speeches one after another, Mariusz encourages more people like him who have physical or mental defects.

He chooses to stand in front of the crowd and shares his life experiences.

Mariusz enjoys every opportunity on stage because he knows that in every performance and every speech, he can prove to the world that although the journey of life is difficult, what binds people is the heart, not the body.

Sometimes, we can’t understand the emergence of many difficulties, but if we embrace enthusiasm, work hard, and believe in ourselves, we will succeed.

Mariusz uses his own experience to prove to the world that dreams are not out of reach, ideas can go far beyond, and goals can be fulfilled through personal beliefs and efforts.

Now Mariusz is in full swing, preparing to publish his first book, “Life,” and hoping to continue bringing more people with power and belief to advance towards their dreams.

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