Grace Tomaszun

My life has been a constant arc of motion: on the move, exploring new cities, crossing borders, overcoming language barriers, learning cultural nuances, becoming a learned observer of people and my surroundings. Poland in the 1970s and ‘80s was often dark and gloomy, yet somehow, I was filled with a passion for family and life and driven by an unbreakable optimism. As a child I was free, roaming the forests, climbing trees, swimming in the lakes. My work is a reflection of being on the move amidst all the conflicting forces in and coming out of the world of my childhood, a reflection of the need to be bold, decisive, to manage through those numerous uncertainties. This brash will to stare down uncertainty manifests itself in my art through largely bold and decisive brushstrokes which evoke expressions and energy and movement. The arc of motion that is my life reflects a certain dynamism in my art, and the vibrance of color that infuses my work expresses the counterpoint to the gloomy backdrop of my childhood life. The twofold way in which my work reflects my life is, on the one hand, the color palette I choose, which centers more on the vivid, bright colors and opposes them to the darker tones. On the other hand, my pieces gravitate toward circularity and the spontaneity of nature, in opposition to the angular artifice and oppressiveness of the concrete Communist high rises of my upbringing. All the various elements of the composition center for me on the opposition between rigid linearity and darkness on the one hand and effusive roundness and light on the other, where I see myself escaping and simultaneously recapturing the essence of my childhood. I want the viewer of my art to be the observer of a spectacle of life, just as, somehow, the moving but quiet observer in me who is at once an onlooker of life and a dynamic participant in it and managed to beat all the odds, is still standing and still moving, seeking to express to others the value of perseverance in life. Continuing to seek, to explore the mystery of one’s experiences.