The Cornelia Arts Building is pleased to announce the winner of our in-house May Event Postcard Contest, Basia Krol.
Basia’s painting “Psychedelic Garden” will be featured on our postcard for the May 21st Open House and on view in our self-curated “Urbs in Horto” exhibit during that event. We asked Basia to tell us a little bit about her painting and her experience working at the Cornelia Arts Building:
This particular painting “Psychedelic Garden” was created from longing for Spring and as such was both departure and continuation of my last series of winter landscapes from Montrose Harbor. Nature is a great inspiration for me and a “jumping off” point whenever I feel a little stuck. Every now and then I like to paint a garden painting, which becomes this imaginary but very specific place, using an accumulation of biomorphic forms and colors. One of most challenging tasks (for the artist) is the emancipation from given, natural colors while keeping the visual consistency. In other words: I like the colors psychedelic but the painting still has to make sense.
“Psychedelic garden” is relative to my other garden paintings in recent years such as Eden1 and Eden2, Eva and Psychedelic Meadow. I’m sure there will be more of them to come. The hot pink underpainting I used for “Psychedelic Garden” is something I use very often in my practice. I (ultimately) paint over it but leave some areas for it shine through. In my Montrose series, I use the underpainting to symbolize the energy building up under the snow in early Spring, increasing the strength of suns rays, and finally, representing the anticipation building up in winter weary Chicagoans. Now, with the Spring finally here I shall indulge in painting blooming trees. But then again: maybe not. I never know: creativity is a moody companion.
About my Studio and the Artists
Shortly after I moved to Chicago, in 2004, I joined the Cornelia Arts Building – thanks to Jason Messinger who was in charge of renting out a big shared space on second floor then. I was at first shy and apprehensive. I came from a rather competitive environment at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw where even friends never shy from a blatant critique of your work. But here, people in the building made me feel very welcomed! Great thanks to Nancy Charak who was my first studio mate, which turned out to be a beginning of a beautiful friendship. This is such a wonderful, friendly and supportive community! Most of my friends are my Cornelia friends. And, we are all pretty much darn good artists.
I love my studio at Cornelia. It has a window through which I can get out on the roof and see the world from my special vantage point. Sometimes I can paint there or make cyan-o-types but mostly I just enjoy myself and watch the sky.
Basia Krol currently teaches a Nature Studies class at the Hyde Park Art Center. She is a member of the Chicago Artists Coalition and its Coalition Gallery – her work is currently on display there.
Upcoming shows: Basia’s “Psychedelic Garden” will be on view in the Urbs in Horto exhibit at the next Cornelia Arts Building Open House, Friday, May 21st. Basia’s studio will also be open for the 9th annual Ravenswood ArtWalk this October 2nd and 3rd.
To learn more, visit Basia’s website.