| Aleksandra Jarosz Laszlo is a figurative painter. Her work ranges from formal portraits to the writhing and twisting forms of her more personal work, which deals with bodies and people as the reflection of the power relations among the characters that inhabit her canvases. It is an attempt to challenge and confront the darker human emotions or drives, such as envy and betrayal. By this confrontation, the end result is an evaluation of people and relationships, with these being the defining qualities of humanity as much as the saving, positive attributes bestowed upon human intention and beauty. |  |
Aleksandra Jarosz Laszlo – Salman Toor
Aleksandra Jarosz Laszlo is a figurative painter. Her work ranges from formal portraits to the writhing and twisting forms of her more personal work, which deals with bodies and people as the reflection of the power relations among the characters that inhabit her canvases. It is an attempt to challenge and confront the darker human emotions or drives, such as envy and betrayal. By this confrontation, the end result is an evaluation of people and relationships, with these being the defining qualities of humanity as much as the saving, positive attributes bestowed upon human intention and beauty.
Just this year, Laszlo is part of a group show at the Swedish Edsvik Konsthall titled “Tiden.” A full frontal portrait of a nude male child titled Leon is traveling for a show at the National Portrait Gallery in London. Laszlo plans to show the Aberdeen Art Gallery, from the 25th of November 2006 to the 3rd of February 2007 as well as at the Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, from the 31st of March to the 20th of May 2007.
Salmon Toor: Tell us a little about the current unifying qualities in your work.
Aleksandra Jarosz Laszlo: I usually work with themes and I feel that, more than anything, such themes are the unifying force in my work. It happens that one theme leads to another, but that it still retains its core. I think that a recurring theme in my work is misrepresentation and misplacement. The characters in my work are often confused, as they are unsure of their decisions. They are showing their dissatisfaction with the present situation and live from one moment to the next through my narrative. They can sometimes be pretentious or just find themselves caught up in various social situations. I tell their stories of personal and cultural transformation.
ST: Give us an account of your interest in different subject matter over the years, within or without the figurative genre, and how that led up to the work you are producing now.
AJL: My private life and interests of course influence my work. I got my diving certificate a couple of years ago and, after that, I painted the series called “The Bathers.”
Paintings like Waterdrops on My Tongue show a feeling of absolute joy and freedom. When you watch children playing, you can see that there are no restrictions to their imagination and that they can take pleasure in the small things, like capturing drops of water on their tongue. Another painting, Up, has some more contradictory feelings. Water has its dark dangers for the air-conditioned human being; when one is underwater and out of breath, desperately lunging for the surface, for air. And, I am not that comfortable with this feeling—probably because I’m not that good of a diver. Nevertheless, the feelings and actions that result from this scenario interest me.
I bottle up all of these various feelings that I get from my different experiences and use them in my work. I constantly refer to myself and, consequently, to the characters from my life or resulting imagination. The subject matter comes from everyday life, my travels and it can also be personal or about something I’ve seen on TV or read in a newspaper. And, after that, I like the painting to take it’s own direction while I’m working on it. I’m never quite sure what the result will be before I start a new painting. I like to allow it to change in the process.
Each painting takes its own time to finish. Some stories are longer, some shorter. Some are easier to narrate and some more difficult. I don’t like to think of my work as a progressive course, but rather as a body unified by the core emotional subject matter that simply remains.
ST: While your portraits seem to be more on the realist side, your other work is caricatured and more loosely painted. Is that something you do intentionally, or the does each work dictate itself independent of your intent?
AJL: It is my intent to paint my portraits on the realist side. I have a traditional approach to portraiture. This way, each portrait is so individual. I am more interested in the personality of my sitter than in reflecting her/his appearance in the work. At the same time, my goal is that my sitter is able to recognize herself/himself on canvas.
ST: Who were the contemporary artists whose work you came across as a developing artist? Which artists did you aspire to?
AJL: I came across Alice Neel’s work six years ago at her solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of Modern Art. Then, later that day when I was walking around NYC visiting different art galleries I saw her paintings again at some show.
And then, as I was looking at them, I slowly fell in love with her work. As the years go by, I feel even more strongly about them. Her style is so honest and beautiful. The drawing line in my paintings has always been important for me, and Alice Neel’s work made it even stronger. When I was studying at the art school, I used to go to the library to look at Paula Rego’s work. I particularly like her “The Maids, Dog Woman” series, Celestina’s House and The Family just to name a few. I admire her clever compositions and of course her mastership as a draftsman. Her paintings are like tales, you can look at them for many hours. I also admire the paintings of Johannes Vermeer of Delft.
ST: On your website (www.jarosz.nu), you say, regarding your current displayed work that these depict "the more uncomfortable human impulses like envy, betrayal or humiliation.” Do you feel that images dealing with such subject matter provoke more of a response from the viewer compared to more positive human impulses? Furthermore, do you feel these impulses to be the more defining ones as far as the nature and reality of the human condition?
AJL: I am particularly interested in the power games we play with each other, games which end in tears as often as in laughter. My paintings are charged with different impulses, desires and expectations. I try to expose many of our unconscious thoughts as well as some of the more uncomfortable human impulses like envy, betrayal or humiliation. I don’t find these impulses to be the more defining ones as far as the nature and reality of the human condition goes. I find them complicated, variable in their nature and not even that defining at all, which is why we try to bury them away—to cover them as much as possible. And, often, that cover is so subtle that others do not realize what your intentions are. Similarly, the characters in my work are often fragile and vulnerable and their hard complexity is created by their intention to not expose their true intentions. That’s why a little girl in the painting Under the Tree looks more like a man. She holds a rifle, which gives her more courage. My paintings are filled with symbols. Some of them might not be pleasant on the eye, but I’m not trying to please anyone. Beneath these symbols, there is a story. Our own.
Usually, we interpret the images the way we want to, consciously or not. I am aware that sometimes my work might challenge some of the difficult feelings that we bear inside of us and, although not at all times or maybe not at all, but often we want to confront them.
I don’t have any conscious intentions to evoke in my paintings. There are also positive subjects, which I have developed in my latest work. But, I don’t want to simplify any feelings in my work. I don’t want them to be only nice, sad, happy, angry or confused. The characters in my work experience all of those feelings, but of course not at the same time. Although a painting is just a frozen image on canvas, I want them to contain the past, present and future. I could compare it to the motion picture, but it’s a viewer that puts my paintings into motion. The narrative makes the imagination fly. And one can soar in any direction.
ST: These are also common Freudian themes. What do feel about Freudian theory and how much of it would you say figures into your work?
AJL: I wouldn’t say that much of Freudian theory figures into my work. But, if so, it is not a conscious choice. Strangely enough, I used to live not far from Freud’s home from the time he used to live in London. So maybe it was his spirit that inspired me to take up these themes in my work. Our conscious and unconscious thoughts and desires might be difficult to separate and can create conflicts. However, I don’t have any intentions to solve them on canvas. I am more interested in leaving things unsolved, observing a process that is open for interpretation.
