Focus on Art

By Rob Mohr

Nudes and Scenic Villages - Artist Ina Kedzierska-Gieysztor

 

Art is ...“born out of struggle between wisdom and madness,   between dream and reality….” Magdalena Abakanowicz

Paintings of village landscapes, structures, and events have long been a focus of Lakeside artists - but which artworks provide more than decorative value to collectors?

Focus on Art began with a decision to write about local painters and sculptors who understand both the elements and principles of art, and whose works convey creative understandings, dreams, and visions.

Paintings of scenic villages, landscapes, and nudes by Ina Kedzierska-Gieysztor (InaK) demonstrate both educated understandings and artistic prowess. InaK - an experienced architect, artist and teacher - understands art as a form of communication imprinted in human nature, that consists of lines, shapes, forms, values, colors, textures, dimensions and space - composed and guided by principles of balance, proportion, unity, harmony, variety, emphasis, rhythm, and movement which deal with the placement of elements within an artwork determined by composition, contrast, dominance, content, aesthetics, symbolism, creative insight, and critical awareness of art history. When all of these are presented with sensitivity and emotion, sensual communication takes place, and the artwork gains societal value.

If, for example, an artist does not understand that variable lines - length, width, curved, or straight, or that the entrances into and exits out of the work, stimulate active movement and interest - the work falls short. Similar realities are inherent within each element in a visual art work.

“Drawing is the honesty in art. There is no possibility of cheating. It is either good or bad.”         Salvador Dali

InaK’s art comes forth from within her conscious perception and mode of expression that go beyond mere photographic documentation. Within her painting Lunchtime in Spring, (photo 1) a path curves around an outdoor cafe that pulls the viewer into the composition. In contrast, the near violent motion created by the sky and trees leads one off the canvas to the right.

focus LUNCHTIME IN SPRING

 

Her use of active and suggestive lines allows the viewer to fill in the intended whole. But central to the work’s impact is the jewel like cluster formed around the restaurant which is pushed outward by intense dark background and framed in front by the white and red curbs. Brilliant turquoise umbrellas, with one purple - as a tie to the mauve sky - against the orange building, dominates. InaK’s composition moves around the gem like scene to create balance within the whole. A small black form on the left gives needed balance with the dark background on the right. Her use of quality compressed pigment pastels, bound with water soluble gum tragacanth, insures sharp lines and dramatic colors. Each of these qualities work to capture viewers’ attention.

Her painting, Lets go Dance (photo 2) is brazen, in-your-face art, similar to Toulouse Lautrec’s (1864 - 1901) stunning sketches of life within Paris bordellos.  Lautrec recommended, “Paint simple like primitives with vibrant colors and startling contrast.”  Lautrec’s genius was manifest in his draftsmanship. With similar skills, InaK’s composition - with a red waist shawl and brilliant yellow blouse, the touch of a yellow band holding the model’s hair, balanced with intense blue shoes - pulls the eye into the painting.

focus Lets go dance

 

The nude woman is encompassed by a compatible brown background that unites the whole. Wisp of mauve, in the upper left, create an atmosphere that apparently attracted the model’s attention. The clean, variable lines add a drafts-woman’s touch.

InaK’s art and architectural education confirm how important understanding the philosophy, elements, principles, and compositional requirements within the visual arts are for the creation of good figurative, expressionist or abstract paintings. As a master-pastelist in Canada and a signature-artist in Connecticut, InaK has won a number of awards in juried art shows. Lakeside her paintings may be seen in her studio in San Antonio, and in Galleria 18 on Colon in Ajijic.

*(link to art)  - https://photos.app.goo.gl/PeSHOJ5b1hfb8Cg43

 

 

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