Craig C. Walkowicz
Artist Statement (written years ago, some things have changed)
Although technology has changed dramatically through the ages, basic core humanity has not as we still have the same basic needs and desires (food, friendship, sex, etc.) and questions (Who am I? How do I relate to the world I live in? What happens when I die?). In my art I provide the characters with, or as symbols, and give hints about their moods and actions, but leave the ultimate interpretation to the viewer. There are many aspects of the human condition that I am interested in, which has led to a wide range of subject matter that addresses things such as; gender relationships, voyeurism, child-like wonder, death, paradoxes, and self-identity.
My current work has been largely merging three different kinds of artistic styles; cartoon-like imagery, machine manipulated imagery, and traditional naturalistic rendering. Using alternative styles in the same piece allows me to challenge the viewer visually and symbolically in ways that I couldn’t do with one style alone. My explorations with different styles over the years have given me a huge variety of ways to express the idea of people, places, and things.
After getting the initial concept for a painting, then begins the time-consuming process of actually making the painting look like I want it to. Using photographs and drawings for references, I pre-plan my composition, manipulating and changing the various elements before transferring the final design to canvas. I like to achieve a balance of organic forms and mathematical geometry combined with idea of “less is more.” Often breaking down the figures and landscape into clearly differentiated fields of color and texture, I like to create spatial depth yet simultaneously contradict the space by compressing it into the two-dimensional picture plane. My paint qualities range from watercolor-like glazes to highly textured areas of flat color, and variations in between. The differences in the paint handling draw attention to the two-dimensional picture plane.
I strive to create work that lets the viewer interact with the piece by allowing them to create their own narrative by using the characters, symbols, and spaces provided, with the possibility of generating new and different narratives.