“Deer” by Tobias

ARTIST STATEMENT:

Acrylic on Canvas

I have been an artist my whole life, working with clay since I was a kid. I would dig up clay in the yard and make sculptures out of it. Now, I primarily use a potter’s wheel. When painting, I usually use acrylic on large canvases. Recently, I have been creating pointillist nature paintings, surrealist landscape paintings, and cubist abstract nudes.

For my pointillist works I start with close up photographs taken from nature. These are based on photos of animals, bugs, and plants.This artwork is about how having an appreciation for nature is actually a good thing. It is important to value nature in that without an appreciation for it we lack motivation to properly take care of it. My concept goes against ideas that loving nature is somehow the cause of mistreating it.

The abstract nudes that I paint also have beauty. They are cubist in how they are made, studying the human figure from three different perspectives. I focus on line quality and mass gestures instead of cubes when I create these however.

In the surrealist paintings I create I rely on pictures taken of interesting rock formations and landscapes. One of the reasons I create surreal paintings is because of the dreamlike quality of surrealist art. Dreams have meanings so when there is a specific topic to address I am likely to express my point of view threw surrealist art.

As a potter my focus is on creating memorial art in the form of funeral urns and pet urns. I also make functional ceramic art, from mugs, catchall bowls, aroma therapy diffusers, and chopstick bowls.

PROVIDED BY:

Avivo Artworks

Since 2004, Avivo ArtWorks, formerly Spectrum ArtWorks, has been working to support professional artists living with mental illness. Located at the Lighthouse, a Community Support Program in Minneapolis, the program meets its mission through a community-focused and recovery-based approach. Its multi-faceted art studio and programming assists artists at reaching and maintaining their artist-related goals such as making new art, connecting with other artists, and accessing exhibition and grant opportunities.

In addition to this, each year the program organizes a new exhibition that aims to meet its mission to challenge stigma and raise mental health awareness. In 2015, the program partnered with the Minneapolis Institute of Art to bring “In Conversation,” a residency and exhibition that featured 17 artists from the program. Each participant created a new piece of art that was in conversation with an object or artwork in the museum’s collection. In 2017, Avivo ArtWorks facilitated “The Big Picture,” a group exhibition that presented artwork that explored wellness in recovery through art. “To Really See,” opening August 2017 at the Hennepin County Library – Central Minneapolis, is Avivo ArtWorks first every traveling group exhibition. The show explores the medication-taking experience and will feature artwork from artists who use Avivo ArtWorks services and artists from across the state of Minnesota.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Tovah Rudawski
Program Supervisor
Avivo ArtWorks 
612-916-5121
Tovah.Rudawski@avivomn.org