A Victorian Cable Car Ride: December 2010

Bedlam, or at least that's what it feels like when making my work in Fine Art. It's not an unpleasant feeling, on the contrary it can be rather invigorating-even though the definition of the word does not permit such a varied interpretation! Perhaps chaos describes it better, as I collect objects that amuse me and surround myself with them while I work at my studio/parents’ garage in Los Angeles;(I’ve been struggling a bit at the studio in Chelsea because I haven't really been able to "spread" as my father would say). I collect imagery that I find interesting, but I don't often work from it; I find that working from a photograph can be exponentially more challenging then working from the chimera created in my own imagination, because it can be so difficult to extract elements of the image rather then replicating the exact photo in paint-unless that's what is sought after. This is not to say that I never work from source material, just that I try my best to veer away from it whenever possible. Recently I've been reading “Just Kids” by Patti Smith and have found that the way I work is very similar to hers and in some respects Robert Mapplethorpe's way of working (although poetry, collaging and S&M photography in particular, isn't really my cup of tea). Patti often describes her studio as being riddled with drawings, poems and all sorts of eclectic objects, with everything scattered about the room. If you replace poems with an ikea carpet and ceramic pots and beads you have my own space. While reading “Just Kids” I found myself making constant parallels (as one always does with people one admires) between Patti and myself; her love of religious paraphernalia (e.g crucifixes, prayer beads, etc.), of Treasure hunting and Book collecting (a lethal obsession of mine), and even the way she dressed. She also had many other interest besides Fine art, as I do. But rather then the pursuit of poetry and rock and roll, I have the biological sciences; neurology, biology, anatomy, botany, etc. The first book a bought after arriving in London was “The Practical Home Doctor” by a Harley Street Specialist published in the early 20th century. The book is stuffed with Victorian medical remedies and every picture is beautifully rendered. I believe that my obsession with these subjects stems from the extensive collection of medical and biological texts that my parents ferried from country to country- my early life was quite nomadic. I'm sure that at some point early on I must picked up one of these weighty hardbacks and it piqued my interest in the biological sciences.Within the realm of visual arts I enjoy doing working with all sorts of media. I don't categorize myself as being say a painter or a sculptor, i find joy in both of them and so much more. I've been known to dabble in painting, ceramics, black and white photography- film not digital, (I have a lot of darkroom experience from my previous school), installation art, printmaking, fashion/textiles, etc. All of which I enjoy very much and would like to continue with throughout my university experience. For this reason I have chosen Fine Art as my BA. I don't recall having many significant aspirations as a child, but the expression "you are what you eat" comes to mind because as an infant I would sit in front of my parent’s bookcase in Warsaw, Poland and shred and eat the dust jackets of any hardback books that I could get my hands on, and it just so happens that most of these books were either artistically or scientifically-related. So i suppose I ate more Monet then Mendel.