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Joanna Sokolowska
BIO
The emerging artist - painter and sculptor associated with Warsaw, born in 1984 in Poland. Educated artistically both in Poland and abroad. She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, where she received the degree of Master of Fine Arts at the Faculty of Sculpture (2012). She received the diploma with honors for her work ”Ecce Homo -Behold the Man”, and appendix from Medal Art – under the same title. Additionally, she received Erasmus scholarship to study for a year in the Department of Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, Italy (2009/2010). She was a finalist of Hestia Artistic Journey Competition in 2011 (for sculpture ”Desire”). In 2013, she received the prestigious Polish - American Fulbright Commission scholarship. For 2 years she studied and worked as an assistant professor at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, USA, where she received a Master of Fine Arts degree in May 2015. In summer 2014 she was an Artist in Residence at the Sculpture Center and Carving Studio in Vermont, USA. Her first completely solo exhibition of sculptures and paintings entitled ”Shape of Beauty” was held in Boston in May 2015. Previously, she participated in group exhibitions in Poland, Italy and the USA.
ARTIST STATEMENT
The human being, with his dual nature - sensual and spiritual, is my biggest inspiration and focus.
Through figurative art I transfer elemental content of human existence that people, in a natural way, may come to read, even without knowing the code and cultural context, which is often necessary to read abstract art.
The human form is like a temple; a sphere of sacrum, which encompassed the richness of emotions and experiences. These states of mind are sources of exploration for me to seek those binding qualities that make us human. Painting and sculpture is a way for me to convert intangible feelings into two and three- dimensional forms.
I am fascinated by the richness of human interior life and the ways we express feelings outside of language. Trying to paint or sculpt an intangible emotion or human experience has become my biggest challenge.
Some of these emotions, as part of our existence, include pain, suffering, longing. Moments of happiness and excitement mix with those of anxiety and pain, thus forming us as humans. In the same way I apply paint on my canvas or I form my clay. Inner torments, limitations, incompleteness are reflected in physical forms, which are often cracked, hollow, and incomplete, blurred, undefined. My works are evidence of a search for the means of expression that split the self into a dilemma of human experience.
Face expressions, gestures, serve as references for form. My most common topic is portrait, human face. I combine elements of realism with expressive, emotional quest for power of expression.
I aim to remind the viewer to feel, to reflect on the spirit within. My works become ‘a meeting place’ – a meeting with the inner and exterior selves, while at the same time opening up a meeting space with another’s essence.
My most recent painting “Beyond the Sight” was created in March/April 2016, as a summary of my interests in contemporary portraiture. The mix of two mediums – oil paints with the acrylic paints, helped me to portray the clash of two dimensions of human life – spiritual one with the mundane one. Oils and their gentle flesh tones correspond to the sensual reality, while the vibrant, abstract strokes of acrylics refer to the ephemeral aspect of our spirit, our mind, our heart. Rich, fascinating – but at the same time mysterious and impossible to express … what is hidden inside us, beyond what can be seen outside?
To see more of my works - my website:
http://joannasokolowska.com/