Senior Art Exhibit 2006: Izabella Wojtowicz

The holistic or so called Gestalt perception is based on belief that the whole is more than the sum of its parts. This summarizes the conceptual philosophy of my paintings, which is closely associated with the strengths of my learning style. Growing up in a family of immigrant parents has often left me 'lost in translation' as the 'spatula' did not exist in my mother's vocabulary nor did many other basic words. To effectively communicate with my childhood friends, I often guessed meanings of words based on the context of our communication. As such, verbal concepts became part of the puzzle defined by interactions with others.

Holistic perception guided by intuition and sensuality helped me transcend my cultural and bilingual barrier in relating with others. It also facilitated my focus on abstract artistic expressions that can inspire universal meaning, reflection and feelings in a form that is free of specific reality or identifiable language. Mixing colors, experimenting with line, shape and texture, I enjoyed painting my 'puzzles' of seemingly independent pieces that have been defined by relations with each other and the whole. I have enjoyed discovering the power of finding possibilities in abstract shapes and the power of colors and texture. The focus on texture by lifting out pigment or incorporating pieces of different materials helped me to bring out the shape from within. Playing with shapes, colors and texture relaxed my mind and freed my creative energy for generating pieces of images around my 'puzzle' conceptual process. Even though at the beginning this required very hard work and daily practice of strengthening my artistic expression to create my distinct design, it later became a natural process, which has been exciting and fulfilling ever since.