Cluster “Obiter dictum”

press release

Cluster "Obiter dictum"

Constans

Oscar Figueroa

Paulina Wiszowata

Cluster "Obiter dictum"

3 April 2014 to 3 May 2014

Reception: Thursday 3 April 2014, 4pm - 7pm

statement / Paulina Wiszowata

My Nest: Robert Kananaj Gallery Nest

For the duration of Cluster “Obiter dictum”, Paulina Wiszowata, in a position to find herself nested at the window space of Robert Kananaj Gallery, infiltrates this art institutional space beyond display, by manifesting a collaborative project. The artist intends to be part of an impact, in space as well as the individuals who interact each in a unique way with the artist. The performance highlights the artist’s attention to low-key factors as an important part of her existence. Art Objects (Ma Babies), a cluster of the artist’s previous work, looms above the space in the anticipation that the artist will incubate something. The window space is brought by Paulina into being a working three dimensional Art Object (Baby).

Oscar Figueroa: Biography; (b. 1990 in Hamilton, ON) graduated from OCAD University in 2013 from the Drawing & Painting program, with a minor in English. He has exhibited solo and group exhibitions in Toronto, including a solo show curated by Gary Michael Dault at ART Condos (Air Planes), and several group shows at Robert Kananaj Gallery. Oscar currently lives and works in Toronto. Constans Statement:The Progressive Abstract

Constans Statement:

The Progressive Abstract

"The Progressive Abstract" is the first series of abstract paintings I created over the last year. In 2012, after years of creating abstract collages out of drawings and photos, I took the collages and painted them. These paintings on paper are dense, two dimensional patches of colour, carefully planned and executed. The first progressive abstract painting was "Emerald Utopia" which took hundreds of hours of fluid acrylic painted intricately into glorious colour explosions. Following that painting, I started to refine the process. Slowly I began to layer the paint, working on a single picture for a month, from the design to the finished work. This new found commitment resulted into pictures that breathe new life into abstract art. A branch of art that is new in the history of art, but seems old in the present. For me, this was a meaningful departure from a physical subject matter. "These paintings are not about anything". "What they are about is using  basic elements and fundamentals of art to make something with immense complexity that can exist on its own".

As of now, I have specific dimensions to my work, 31x40 inches and 8x10 inches, with no explanation for that other than it "It works for me". Nothing in my work is left to chance even the size. My believe that everything comes from somewhere, even my own work and that there is no true source of originality until an artist has worked from influences up until they work from their own work. Then it could be considered to be original. The colour theory is the primary organizational tool for the compositions. I use my fluid acrylic paint to celebrate my obsession with colours  and the joy of the paint leaving the brush.

Constans, was born in 1986, New Westminster, B.C., Canada, and lives in Oakville, Ont, Canada.

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