Author Archives: jolanta

The town of Hongjiang is situated in Xiangxi (West Hunan). Its unique geographical location at the junction of the Yuanshui and Wushui rivers made Hongjiang a trading center since the Song dynasty, serving the provinces of Hunan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, and Hubei. During the time of the Ming and Qing dynasties, Hongjiang even became a […]

Co-curating the exhibition Persistence of Painting, Peter Franck and I try to highlight the skill, dedication and hands-on approach of four young artists, Jeremy Wagner, Karen Seapker, Noah Landfield, and Rachel Budde, along with their individuality, innate creativity and ability to communicate with a contemporary audience. With a provocative mix of abstract and representational elements, […]

These past few years I have found myself looking less and less at the things around me, not directly but, trying to look through them, or in the background, and see what my first feelings and instincts are—this is the basis for my work. I want my work to take on its own kind of […]

Please stand in front of one of the skulls. Only one person for every skull. Never more than one person for every skull. Please relax without losing your straight posture. Your arms are gently hanging from your shoulders. You feel your feet slightly touching the ground. You are breathing slowly in and out. It is […]

When I decided to come to New York, I thought that I represented Korean art students in America. I had nothing, and knew no one in New York, but I just believed in myself. I had a hard time studying in New York. I had to fight against language barriers, culture shocks, and isolation. It […]

I began painting in the streets of my hometown, Toulouse, France, in the early 1990s. My sensual “poupee” characters, painted with brush and acrylic paint as opposed to spray paint, powerfully stood out from the rest of the male-dominated graffiti pieces seen throughout my city. The characters’ sensuality, femininity, and unique style gained recognition and […]

My more recent paintings are all self-portraits, and I never initially intended to paint only myself and have them be recognized as that. I’ve avoided self-portraits because I’d viewed the practice as an attempt to provide too selective a picture of the artist’s soul rendered with varying degrees of what becomes a forced internal expression. […]