The Transformative Pop of Color

There is more than meets the eye to experimenting with color. For painters, it is a skill that takes trial and error, practice, observation, and precision. Barbara Januszkiewicz, a Washington, DC area artist is no stranger to honing this skill.

As a leading voice of the DC area creative arts, Januszkiewicz discovered that her way of communicating with her audience is through the boldness of color fields. It all started when she worked as an independent filmmaker who wanted to film artists from the Washington Color School, an art movement focusing on abstract expressionism that developed from 1950s to the 1970s in the DC area.

Januszkiewicz explains, “There are three people who have influenced me most in my creative process: R. Buckminster Full, Matthew Shipp, and Paul Reed. In my early 20s, I met R. Buckminster Full who encouraged me to think about impact, influences, and humanity. Matthew Shipp, in my opinion the MOST brilliant free jazz piano player living today, continues to influence me in the areas of freedom, creativity, and maintaining a unique voice. And, finally, painter Paul Reed from the Washington Color School movement demonstrated to me that as we age although we can expect expertise, it is important to keep a humble head and a healthy sense of curiosity.”

As a "colorist" (i.e., an artist who portrays color as the root of their work from which everything else stems), she has discovered a great deal of knowledge about how each color interacts with another, how they can change the visual perception of space, and how these relationships impact the underlying flow within the work itself. As Januszkiewicz puts it, “it’s like a game of chess.”

When you look at Januszkiewicz’s work, you immediately notice the way colors play with your visual field. It’s not just about the connectivity of color and emotion, but more so about the way the color fields transform before our eyes, causing an individualised reaction. There is fluidity to the work, where acrylics are transformed to act like watercolors that not only have vibrancy and cohesion from one blend to the next, but also a movement that builds from a soft place.

Januszkiewicz explains her creative process, “I named [my paintings] all after songs, I title it to find the painting again, untitled, it’s hard to find the work later. Art is improvising and gives the freedom of not being restrained. I’m treating acrylics like a watery watercolor. I warm up on the paper. I warm up trying to help me open up to really get me into the creative practice. [This practice] engages my whole being into how you make decisions on what to create and to get rid of that moment of being scared, then anything is possible. That helps me break down that barrier, that helps me practice my zen.”

The color fields take a life of their own, as if they’re ethereal living creatures in constant state of transformation. The beauty of Januszkiewicz’s work is that you can make something out of what you see from any angle. Your eye can lead you to form any concept or shape from what you see thanks to abstraction and the breathable white spaces in between. It’s almost like the shades in each painting taking over slowly but surely in a form of metamorphosis.

For more about the artist, check out her website, and to learn more about Metro Micro Gallery, her local art community initiative, click here.

Today’s poem is inspired by Barbara’s affinity for soft beauty through her sheer, multicolored layers:

She Walks in Beauty

BY LORD BYRON (GEORGE GORDON)

She walks in beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies;

And all that’s best of dark and bright

Meet in her aspect and her eyes;

Thus mellowed to that tender light

Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,

Had half impaired the nameless grace

Which waves in every raven tress,

Or softly lightens o’er her face;

Where thoughts serenely sweet express,

How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o’er that brow,

So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,

The smiles that win, the tints that glow,

But tell of days in goodness spent,

A mind at peace with all below,

A heart whose love is innocent!

As Above, So Below

Curiosity for our environment is what drives our knowledge.  This natural sequence stems from our perception and Vu Q. Nguyen’s artwork persuades us look beyond that surface. As a nature-inspired artist, he believes in the importance of organic interactions and how these impact our lives in a number of ways.

“My interest in the relationship between nature and humans stems from my family and how I grew up. Farming and agriculture played a big part, from places where we plant the food we eat to creating a sense of community. Like many artists, I look to nature to find inspiration but for me it is important to represent nature's influences on every day life. We leave our 'human' traces where we live but how that affects other parts of the world in not very apparent,” he says.

What you might immediately notice in Nguyen’s paintings aside from the beautiful blends of colors are the shapes and dimensions.  It all comes down to perception, whether we’re focusing on the bigger picture or just a specific part of it. Whichever way you see it, the context extends like an infinity pool of abstraction where the details take over the entire canvas. The gentle colors and gestural marks represent something that can’t be ignored, which are part of the overall abundance of emotion being evoked beyond the top layer. These marks are all unique in shape, brightness, opaqueness, and stand out to complement the environment, yet show us that one detail cannot exist without the others. Even if parts of the painting stand out, they all belong to the whole, which is the way nature and experiences work. There might be good, bad, surprising parts to everything we experience, but if one hadn’t occurred, then we wouldn’t have the same results after all.

Nguyen explains, “I had a deep interest in storytelling when I first began my career. I represented those stories with symbols and figures. Most of my early works contained symbols that were culturally specific and figures of family and friends whom I knew well. I wanted to tell their stories while incorporating an element of place. Over time my work became more abstract which for me was a natural progression because I became more involved with traveling and nature. I felt that I could tell my story better with more of an emotional expression rather than pure representation.”

The abstract shapes represent the complexities of everything we see in life, yet everything portrayed has many layers, like the physical earth does. These layers can portray anything you imagine, even though Nguyen’s work is built on his travel and organic experiences, what you see can also be applicable to the overall environment within life. Everything in our environment is layered because nothing is really black and white, there are more shades of gray than anything else, which again leads us to perception and how we may see the surface and what lies underneath. Think of each layer and pigment in the paintings as what is beneath each person, the earth, feelings, reactions to actions, among other examples.

“My works over the past five or more years have been linked to land in the sense of how it's divided over time. I incorporate this with things that I find interesting in that area. I make small sketches that represent patterns of what I see. I start the base of my paintings as maps some real, some I make up. Then I put layers of patterns that I've collected more of which will obscure all the drawing underneath. I use a wide variety of mediums. Currently I create a lot of my work using dry pigment. I tend to use drawing as painting so oil sticks, pens, markers, charcoal/graphite is my main go-to,” he says.

There is a sense of looking within and without when you’re observing these landscapes.  This causes you to look into what is there from the inside, meaning the layers and what completes the whole or it causes you to look at the bigger picture, as if you’re looking at things from the sky. It all depends on your personal viewpoint, which relates to how you look at things in life: Are you looking at the details up close and analyzing every single thing that is presented right in front of you, or are you pulling back and analyzing things from afar and getting a gist of what the overall message might be? That is the question.

Nugyen exhibited his work at the Foundry Gallery in Washington D.C. this past spring. For more about the artist’s work, please visit his website.

Today’s poem represents the detail of emotive color and movement found in Vu’s paintings:

Field of Moving Colors Layered

BY TINO VILLANUEVA

I’m not easily mesmerized.

But how can you not be drawn in by swirls,

angles and whorls brought together to obey

a field of moving colors layered, muted ...

others bright that make you linger

there?

Just look at those Carpaccio reds.

Right then my mind

leaps to Cezanne:

his dark-blue vest in Self-Portrait (1879–1880);

the Seven Bathers (ca. 1900) wallowing in blue;

his blue beyond in Château Noir (1904).

Consider now the three, or is it four figures

in Alberto Valdés’s Untitled (ca. 1965).

They are wayward energy, moving right

to left (the right one more sensuous than the rest)

about to dive

into the deep-blue waiting — call it the unknown.

I’d like to be there when they meet that blue abyss

head on.

Will they keep their shape, I wonder,

or break up and rearrange themselves

into a brighter, more memorable pose

... into a bigger elemental thing?

I’m really asking this:

When they run into the landscape of blue,

will these figures lose their logic of luster?

Will they lose their lucid argument of color,

their accumulated wealth of geometry?

Will they still engage the entire me,

hold me,

keep me mesmerized?

Once Upon a Time in Lima

Nostalgia is like looking in the mirror and having your childlike reflection staring back at you; that’s the feeling that overtakes you with Pablo Patrucco’s paintings. The Peruvian painter presents a softer view of Lima and its people, and because he comes from a long line of painters, he has an innate understanding of his environment’s artistic representation. “In my case, it wasn’t difficult to notice [I wanted to be a painter]. I come from a medium that was familiar to me, in relation to art and literature. My mom is a painter, so was her mom, and my sister is a painter too,” he says.

Over the past  15 years, the city of Lima has been undergoing major changes socially, politically, and structurally, and all of these embody a constant shift that affects its residents and others’ perceptions of what life in Lima really is. The investment of foreign companies in the region, the massive migration of people from the provinces to the city, and the lack of public housing and transportation budget/implementation have all contributed to an inevitable collective transformation.

These changes are steps in a positive direction in developing nations like Peru. There is modernity within the city, but the newness is simply external and superficial. When it comes to the people who live there, these shifts can surely affect their daily lives and many times they have no choice but to go along with them to survive. With so much social and historical richness in Peru, modernity can’t surpass these foundations, including the blend of Incan culture and colonial architecture, which is what Patrucco’s work is showing us. His paintings focus on the natural state of the landscape, especially the beach, which is a big part of Lima’s culture, its food, its people, and lifestyle.

Patrucco explains, “I’m a painter who is influenced by his surroundings, and the disorganization of Latin American cities is something that fosters my work. In my case, Lima, where I’m from, had stopped being portrayed for at least 15 years. It has grown a lot since and in a very disorderly manner. I think that along with other artists of my generation, we have been faced with the challenge to reflect on that in a creative manner, but at the same time interesting enough to find a coherent and meaningful discourse.”

His work indeed shares a level of awareness to what is currently happening in Lima, which has become overcrowded with housing, buildings, people, and even cars. Patrucco’s work holds a suspension of nostalgia that comes from the people portrayed, who seem to be trying to adapt to all these changes while holding on to something precious to them; peace and tranquility. In the paintings, they achieve this state of mind by being with friends and family, or through simply being present in that moment while appreciating the simple things in life that bring joy.

The paintings are in very soft colors, which serve as a symbol for the emotions behind the setting, like a peacefulness of being at the beach even though there’s so many people there, there’s a cohesive sense of collective peace for the people portrayed.

When living in a changing city since there’s no time to stop and smell the roses, which is essentially what his paintings are doing. They are forcing the viewer to look at the details of the moment and grasp the experience. A little girl grasping her wet bathing suit while looking into the distance, a man staring at the sea of people at the beach, including the beach goers and churro boy. These among other examples create a sense of peace within themselves vs. their environment.

Patrucco uses with oil paints on canvas and the black and white is pencil on canvas. When asked about his process, he says, “When you first begin, you try to find your own voice in a sufficiently impactful and different manner. Then, you notice that what matters most is being able to work all the time while nourishing yourself with the small things in life and most of all to enjoy the process and not detach your soul or exercise your inner self to do it, but to work in a disciplined and coherent manner.”

Patrucco’s paintings force the city dweller to stop and smell the roses; something a city resident often doesn’t have time for. They are forcing the viewer to look at the details of the moment and grasp the experience. A little girl grasping her wet bathing suit while looking into the distance, a man staring at the sea of people at the beach, including the beach goers and the ice cream boy. These among other examples create a sense of peace within themselves versus their environment.

The paintings are in very soft colors, which serve as a symbol for the emotions behind the setting, like a peacefulness of being at the beach even though there’s so many people there, there’s a cohesive sense of collective peace for the people portrayed.

For more of the artist’s work, please check out his website. This interview was translated from Spanish.

Today’s poem is inspired by Pablo’s depth of emotion surrounding Lima, a city by the sea: 

MAR

By Luis Hernández

Entre la sombra voy 
                Juan Ramón Jiménez

 1

REFLEJOS SOBRE EL AGUA

 Las franjas suaves del agua
se pierden en la orilla.
– Es posible vivir;
está húmedo el aire
y reseca la arena….
– El viento trae gotas
fugaces y salinas.

El mar antes surgía,
sereno sin ser visto,
mi amor por él, ahora,
olvidará hasta el cielo.

El agua antes cantaba
infiltrada en la arena;
hoy, la busco hasta a ella
por el mar no saciado.

Ayer vimos las ondas
que subían perfectas,
hoy
nuestros pies las perturban,
nuestros cuerpos las quiebran,

Está el mar muy amargo,
hemos bebido
en un día sus aguas,
pisado sus riberas.

2

La última onda,
limpia y azul,
ha caído tan cerca
de mí
que puedo sentir
su pensamiento.

3

Vuelvo mi rostro,
arriba…
abajo en el fondo
pétreo y salino del pozo,
oriónidas estrellas
se hunden en la noche.

y 4

He cubierto en el mas
el vacío
entre estrella y estrella
creyéndolas mías;
mas la noche muere
y estoy tan solo
como antes.