JOHN BALCERZAK

In my art I focus mostly on the nature (trees) and abstract. The inspiration to take up the theme of trees and forest in my painting, apart from the fascination with the trees, were and still are artistic issues related to color, rhythm, composition and texture. Most of the works in the series were created with oil paint on canvas. Proper preparation of oil paint allows me to achieve effects similar to bas-relief with a very clear and complex texture. Another time the effect is similar to a watercolor that is heavily diluted with water. The flexibility of oil paint supported by variously prepared medium is tremendous. Composition in my understanding is a frame which connects the content of the image. In most of the paintings in this series I try to combine expression and calmness in a way that strives for balance. The rhythm usually appears in compositions whose prototypes are wider scenes with repeating shapes, which is characteristic for a picture showing stumps inside a forest or a forest seen from a bird's perspective. For me, the color issue is the most important element, although it is not always put in the fore. By handling the warm and cool colors properly I try to achieve the impression of color harmony. I precede most of the paintings with insightful color sketches from nature. In my further work, I usually simplify live coverage. A very frequent procedure is also to move away from the original color scheme based on the own emotional state or to look for completely new color combinations. The series dedicated to trees, like most of my other inspirations, is relatively far from showing the real world. Through strong simplification, certain styling and subjective vision of the world around us, I aspire to eliminate components that, in my opinion, are unnecessary for a painting composition built this way.

2000 – University of Copenhagen, Denmark 2002 – Aarhus University, Denmark 2011 – a scholarship holder of Maison d`artiste de La Grande Vigne w Dinan, France 2016 - participation in the international painting exhibition in the Castle Gallery, Bzenec, Czech Republic

Studies at the of Fine Arts in Warsaw (Poland) were preceded by a solid preparation in the field of traditional drawing and painting based on the ability to observe and quite realistically translate the results of this observation into paper. This classical approach to the study of fine arts gave me a strong workshop for further, already much freer and more contemporary ways to relate to the topics undertaken. However, during my studies I was fascinated by one of the very traditional techniques still performed at the Warsaw university in an almost archaic way with use of huge stones and powerful 19th century iron presses, i.e. lithography. This fascination was based on the physical contact with the stone and the effects that could be achieved in the final print by means of properly applied colour patches. In this technique I made a diploma series of graphics in 100x70cm format which are my own interpretation of the Slavic mythology.