ANDRZEJ MICHAEL KARWACKI,

Art Statement

My artistic direction began to take shape after integrating Eastern spirituality into my artwork. My recent paintings have become Cosmo- centric seeing man and art as an integral part of nature. These concepts are based on Buddhist philosophy and works, with an intention of equanimity that is neither a thought nor an emotion. In Buddhism,

equanimity (upekkhā, upekṣhā) is one of the four immeasurables and is considered the steady conscious realization of reality's transience. While some may think of equanimity as dry neutrality or cool aloofness, mature equanimity produces radiance and warmth of being.

There is a push and pull that develops in my paintings, one color at a time. Each step is an inspiration for the next. My composition develops freely allowing my paintings to form from the depths of the creative process. The essence of each work carries its own unique direction. While they are often identified as Abstract paintings, I see them less as abstractions but more as connections. Each stroke builds upon the other producing a radiance and warmth of being. The layers of each work suggest a complex interconnectivity of man’s own marking with nature. With this approach, a unique network of color and organic lines develop a contemporary language defining the nature of man’s own being.

In my current series of paintings, I have literally reconstructed my paintings to embrace the underlying order and harmonic balance that supports the organic and at times chaotic nature of life. The style is created by the application of paint with a palette knife to thin wooden boards, which are consequently cut up into strips and collaged together in a different order thereby creating more graffiti like painting landscape.

Gallery13: 811 LaSalle Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55105 / 651-592-5503 / info@gallery13.com /www.gallery13.com