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Raf Zawistowski
As Raf explains, art was a fascination from an early age, "I began to draw very young, I think I was 8 or 9 years old. I'm originally from Poland and when I came to Canada I didn't speak English so drawing was my way to deal with all the things in my life. I continued to draw throughout high school and I attended Sheridan College for the illustration program. It wasn't for me so I switched to the Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD) in 2002. That's where my true artistic experience began because OCAD is much more liberal with what an artist is allowed to do. I wasn't working for a client I worked only for myself. I really enjoyed that because first and foremost I do art for me. At OCAD at first I created traditional landscape painting, which was fun for that moment, I really didn't know too much about contemporary issues or the contemporary art scene."
His style changed. "I took one of my pieces to another artist and asked for critique. He and his studio mate tore me apart. That was one of the greatest experiences I had as an artist. I realized the things you need to look at and how you should be informed about and who are your predecessors and where you get your inspiration is just as important as creating the image. That was my first rude awakening into the contemporary world. Shortly afterwards I spent a year in Florence where I had a studio. During that time I traveled throughout Italy and Europe and that influenced my artistic style. I switched into abstraction at that point though I was still using oil paint. At OCAD taking the Materials and Processes class led me to encaustic. I began to seriously look at working solely with encaustics and abandoning everything else. There is so much freedom with encaustic, mistakes can be scraped away and the process is much faster. For me, being an impatient person, that is nice. I like getting quick results. I often work on 2 or 3 paintings at one time and get each to a certain degree of preparation before I start the final pouring of the wax. That's something I appropriated from an old friend of mine who showed me that there is something in the flatness of wax that is very beautiful."
The artist adds, "I think that as an artist its very nice to go away and have experiences, especially in a place like Florence because it is where the old masters began. To be there and have the experience of walking the same streets as Leonardo or Michelangelo was very inspiring, to me especially as a young artist."
Continuing, "I like to make paintings that when people walk into a gallery they want to touch them. That is my inspiration. When you see one of my works it is so tactile and ready to be approached and touched. That's the most important thing for me though I know you're not really supposed to, but it's this desire I have to make paintings that jump out and flow."
Like many artists such as Monet and Van Gogh, Raf is fond of series such as one dealing with subdivisions.
Raf explains, "I name my paintings from suburbs and subdivisions in my area." That explains the liberty taken in the spelling of his titles. "I take one or two of these names and combine them into something non-traditional and they still sound like subdivision names but they are places that don't exist. The Pines is the name of the complex I live in and it was the first painting of this series. Phesant Run, another painting, is the name of a complex down the street from me. After I did a few of these I ran out of actual names to use for my work from things around me so I began to make my own subdivisions by combining the names of various subdivisions in Mississauga and things I've seen in other suburbs in the Toronto area."
Adding, "I think that combination gives a whole new meaning to the work itself because you are taking the work that is already there and combining it with something else that is there to create something that in actuality doesn't exist. I look at the names of these new housing complexes and they are actually the name of something that used to be there but was taken away so the complex could be built. There isn't a single pine tree in my complex and yet it is called the Pines. I'm toying with what was there before was taken away so these things could be erected and then name it as if what was removed never actually left."
"When you look at some of my newer encaustic works that deal with suburbs and maps I'm trying to make the viewer minuscule, as if you're flying over something that you have no control over. I photograph my neighborhood or take sketching notes of colors that just don't belong. If you're riding down a suburban street in the west end of Mississauga the colors are browns, grays and whites. If you see something out of the ordinary like a bright pink or canary yellow it sticks in my memory. Those are the colors I use as roadways in the majority of my pictures because they don't belong within the suburbs. They're almost crying out not to be there in a way but my perspective is it is a cry for change." The artist uses bold colors in his Suburbs series.
Asked to describe his preferred medium Raf said, "Encaustic is an old Egyptian technique."
It was used to paint funeral portraits on top of the dead person's mummy. It was first used by the Greeks who imported it to Egypt. The artist explained, "It's a mix of oil paint and bees wax. I prefer to use microcrystalline, which is more flexible and less brittle than beeswax. I like to pour a layer of wax onto my panel and while it's still hot I'll pour another color into it that creates a reaction in the colors making a crazy design. I've learned to control some of it but it's very unpredictable. It goes back to the suburbs theme, such as when people build on top of old rivers and end up having problems with water finding the way through their basements. Something about combining the oil paint with the wax has such a beautiful element. The colors are muted but there is a such a vibrancy to them that you cannot get with oil paint or acrylic. As luscious as oil paintings are with rich deep colors with acrylics you can water them down and have washes that are a combination of the two. That is the way I look at it. It has the muted subtle quality within encaustic but its got that lush quality of rich pigment and if you add enough you can achieve really beautiful outstanding color that is amazing."
With the exception of the materials such as the encaustic wax and wood which are purchased a Zawistowski work is often completely that; the artist made it all from the canvas to the vision on top. Raf pointed out, that "I like making all my own panels, I learned to do it at OCAD. It's less expensive and it gives a new dimension to the work. I made all of it. It's a nice thing to be able to build your own supports and I can make dimensions I might not be able to find at the art stores."
Building his own panels isn't the only unique feature of a Zawistowski, he often allows the panel to become a portion of the created image. "I do tend to leave some of the wood showing in my work because of aesthetics and perception of depth and giving the viewer some breathing space. It's a way of going back to nature because these are made of wood. I don't know if I'll leave some of the wood showing in my next series. I haven't decided yet but one of the reasons I enjoy the wood is to show the imperfections within the wood to make us realize that we're not perfect and we're destroying what our kids will have for the future with all the building. I guess it's a bit of a political comment but ultimately I enjoy making the work. I don't like taking a stance whether it's positive or negative within my views on the suburbs. I think the work is there and the audience can take whatever side they choose. I am not here to force one issue, I'm here to present that this issue exists."
Raf Zawistowski was part of an emerging artist group show in July at ACA Gallery entitled Earth, Wind, Air, Fire. "I think it was a great show overall. It was a nice environment to show my work focusing both on abstract and more traditional paintings." He is currently included in Reflections, a group show at ACA on display until December 16, 2006. Two of the artists smaller works are on display as part of Reflections. Raf Zawistowski has an exciting future as one of Toronto's contemporary encaustic artists.
Reflections
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