why and how

Artist Statement

There is one ongoing body of work on this website, the Disappearing Lines series. It consists of paintings and collages in different media.

Disappearing Lines

This series is a visual language describing the expanse of the exterior world and our place in it. The art speaks to our need to breathe and occupy space: to delineate, fill and clear it out to make room for more space, more experiences. The gestures of painting, collage and drawing that define the art are prompted by literature, poetry, lyrics and words processed over and over on a continuous loop in my head. Cues are varied: Tom Petty - Chuck Berry, Amanda Gorman - Bob Woodward, R&B or the BBC.

Rhythms and frequencies are caught on the surfaces in the process of dissolving, veiled or unearthed with occasional breakthroughs of the shapes or marks that they leave behind. The literal and visual combine on one plain, creating new narratives from earlier stories.

Process Statement

As I paint, I shift back and forth between intuitive and cognitive states. Intuitively applying paint and drawing elements on surfaces, often rapidly and without analysis, prompts powerful memories and perceptions. It is visceral -- pure sensation, emotion, and memory. Then, shifting into the cognitive, I record and explore as I move between the emerging image and the instinctive application of paint and mark. 

This series was commenced in 2017, after reaching a low point in my art making. A long-distance conversation with my daughter, who has always pushed my envelope in so many positive ways, and her gift of assorted materials collected on her travels around the globe, led to the initial inspiration for this series.

Participation in residencies and programs with other disciplines, particularly poets and writers, led to another discovery … that I have a visual response to the written word. This prompt continues to enlighten and refine my art.

Pat at her opening, The Shape Of Things, Alliance for the Arts, Ft. Myers, FL 2019

from there to here... 

Pat has wonderful childhood memories of painting intricate Ukrainian eggs, pysanky, one of her first creative experiences. This distinctly feminist art form was developed thousands of years earlier and has ritualistically been taught to Ukrainian girls and women. Born and raised in New York City, she was encouraged to pursue a practical career as an attorney.  She retired from a successful legal career and fully embraced her passion for painting in her new Florida environ. Pat broadened her knowledge by continuing studies in residencies, local universities and with select instructors such as Steven Aimone and Harold Garde, both of whom recognized her talent and commitment to creating art.

Over the past several years, her art has regularly appeared in major private and public collections in the United States and abroad.

 

Copyright 2024 - patricia h. zalisko