Snow portraits (December 2022) — Arkadiusz Andrejkow, Sanok
Arkadiusz Andrejkow · 2022 · Bank of the San river, Sanok, Poland
Photo: Arkadiusz Andrejkow, as published on Street Art Utopia.
In December 2022, after heavy snow in Sanok, street artist Arkadiusz Andrejkow painted a series of portraits on the snow with spray paint and shared the photos online. According to TVN24, he painted them on the bank of the San river, on snow that had settled like caps over concrete, so that the paint would end up on the concrete rather than the soil when it melted. Each portrait took him about 15 minutes, and a light thaw is enough to make them disappear. Source Source Reported
Seen Dec 2022: Ephemeral snow works reported by eSanok (18 Dec 2022) and TVN24 (25 Dec 2022), which disappear with a light thaw; no later sighting is recorded. Source Source Reported
💡 4 things to know
- Snow as a blank sheetIn his own words, quoted by eSanok, Andrejkow was impatient for spring and the next works on walls, so he decided to make something on the “white sheet” (biała kartka) of winter snow. Source Checked
- Concrete under the snowHe looks for places where snow has formed caps over concrete sticking out of the ground, so the paint settles on concrete, not soil, after the thaw. Source Reported
- Faces from old photosAccording to TVN24, he paints enlarged, tightly cropped portraits of older people, men and women, taken from black-and-white photos he finds online. Source Reported
- A years-long winter habitThe snow portraits are not a one-off: a January 2019 article already described him spraying faces on snow-capped concrete on a meadow by the San, and said he had been painting on snow for five years. Source Checked
📍 Where it is
Bank of the San river in Sanok, Poland (city-level location). Source Reported
Opens a map at Sanok, Poland; the exact spot along the San river bank is not given in the sources.
🗓️ Sightings
- 202218 Dec
Reported · eSanok
- 202225 Dec
Reported · TVN24
Amber stamps mark dated reports. Publication dates are not camera dates.
🗞️ In the sources
Niesamowite dzieła Arkadiusza Andrejkowa malowane na śniegu! (ZDJĘCIA)
“Ostatnie spore opady białego puchu pozwoliły na stworzenie portretów malowanych farbą sprayem na śniegu.”
The recent heavy snowfall made it possible to create portraits painted with spray paint on the snow.
Ulotne portrety malowane na śniegu. Trzeba mieć dużo szczęścia, by je zobaczyć
“Farba na śniegu szybko się roztapia. Praktycznie nikt poza mną nie widzi tych prac na żywo”
The paint on the snow melts quickly. Practically no one but me sees these works in person.
Ulotna sztuka w Sanoku. Andrejkow maluje sprayem śnieg
“Obraz jest ulotny, przetrwa kilka dni.”
The image is fleeting; it lasts a few days.
✅ The facts
- First snow works
- About 10 years before 2022, by the artist’s account in 2022 (eSanok); a 2019 article says he had painted on snow for five years (Biznes i Styl); his own snow gallery starts with Sanok 2012 Source Source Source Conflicting
🔗 Related
All sources & image credits
- eSanok — Niesamowite dzieła Arkadiusza Andrejkowa malowane na śniegu! (ZDJĘCIA) — 18 Dec 2022
- TVN24 — Ulotne portrety malowane na śniegu. Trzeba mieć dużo szczęścia, by je zobaczyć — 25 Dec 2022
- Biznes i Styl — Ulotna sztuka w Sanoku. Andrejkow maluje sprayem śnieg — 10 Jan 2019
- Arkadiusz Andrejkow — Śnieg (artist portfolio)
- Hero image: Arkadiusz Andrejkow, as published on Street Art Utopia. A 16:9 share image was made from it with blurred sides.
Last checked: 7 November 2026 · How we verify art