Urszula Broll was a key figure in the Katowice underground scene. Between 1949 and 1955, she studied propaganda graphics and poster art at the School of Fine Arts in Katowice, Poland’s largest city in industrial Silesia, as it rebuilt itself after the war. Initially, her work focused on industrial landscapes, expressive portraits of Silesian women and Cubist still lifes. During her studies, she met Konrad Swinarski (1929–1975), with whom among others, she co-founded the St-53 Group in 1953. This group was one of the early neo-avant-garde collectives, distancing itself from socialist realism and exploring the ideas of Władysław Strzemiński’s (1893–1952) art and abstraction. She participated in St-53 Group exhibitions in Katowice (1953, 1954, 1956, 1957), Krzywe Koło Gallery in Warsaw (1956) and the Palace of Art in Kraków (1956).

U. Broll showcased her works at the second and third Modern Art Exhibitions in Warsaw in 1957 and 1959. Her first solo exhibition took place in 1959 at the Krzywe Koło Gallery in Warsaw, where she presented paintings of the series Przekształcenia [Transformations] (1958–1959) inspired by Tachisme. In 1960, with her husband Andrzej Urbanowicz (1938–2011), she established a studio at 1 Piastowska Street in Katowice, which became a legendary meeting place for artists and was for decades an informal gallery. In the 1960s, she began to participate in key events defining the neo-avant-garde art scene in Poland, such as plein-airs in Osieki and exhibitions at Krzysztofory Gallery in Kraków. During this period she created the Alikwoty [Aliquots] series (1960–1964), featuring dark, abstract paintings with thick texture, following the spirit of Art Informel.

In 1967, U. Broll co-founded the Oneiron group, aiming at self-education and openness to various disciplines such as Zen Buddhism, occultism, gnosticism, Taoism and alchemy. From 1967 to 1969, she collaborated with this group on the Czarne karty [Black Cards] series, where each work corresponded to a letter of the alphabet and free associations related to it, evoking esotericism, Kabbalah and surrealist games. In the 1970s, she turned to creating mandalas and geometric compositions symbolising spiritual values.

In 1983 she moved to a Buddhist community in Przesieka, in the Karkonosze mountains, where she lived until her death in 2020. There, she produced meditative paintings, watercolours, colourful mandalas and black-and-white ink drawings. Her landscapes were not literal depictions but rather a synthesis of the scenery, her mood and inner landscapes. U. Broll was known as the ‘mother of Polish Buddhism’ and actively pursued spirituality and mysticism throughout her life. In the 1970s, she delved into Buddhism, Taoism, Zen philosophy and tantra. She translated texts by Carl Gustav Jung, read Buddhist texts and explored Far Eastern meditation practices, including yoga.

In 2005, a major retrospective of U. Broll’s work took place at the BWA Jelenia Góra and BWA Katowice, initiating the process of rediscovering her art. She passed away a few months before the opening of her exhibition, Urszula Broll. Atman Means Breath, at Museum of Sculpture Królikarnia in Warsaw (2020). Her works can be found in the collections of the Silesian Museum, the Museum of the History of Katowice, the Regional Museum in Koszalin, the Karkonosze Museum in Jelenia Góra, BWA in Jelenia Góra and various private collections.