Kathryn Elizabeth Noska
Artist Statement for Standing Stone Paintings
Expressing myself as an elemental realist, I faithfully portray the observable exterior of an object, “the seen”, while revealing the spirit, magic and invisible, deeper meanings within. My creative inspiration has come from the worlds of realism, symbolism and artistic geometry; storytelling, science fiction and fantasy; nature and the medieval elements of air, fire, water and earth. I am attracted to Dutch Still Life Paintings from the 17th century, where common everyday objects, used as metaphors for life, emerge out of darkness. In my work, the darkness serves as a symbol for the womb or universal void out of which life emerges as energy stored in all matter. However, I choose to work with bits and pieces of nature.
Having a love of rocks and a penchant for seeing faces in things around me, it’s only natural that I would begin to observe personalities emerge from piles of rocks. With seed pods, leaves, shells, twigs, books and candles in supporting role, I create standing stone creatures that exist in the otherworld, but can teach us about life in ours. They each have something to say.
Where there is life, a story can be told and these objects become both the characters and authors. Metaphorically speaking, I become the instrument, humbly arranging the different objects, dealing with the practical issues like composition, lighting, color and balance. But the stories are mysteriously written since it feels like the objects reveal, express and chronicle themselves. It feels very much like how I imagine a sculptor would feel when he/she senses the figure in the stone chipping away at the excess until the figure is revealed. My still life paintings, in a sense, become portraits of a new genus living in a symbolic world of the “unseen”, where I paint and the Earth speaks.
These animated characters, with their enchanted expressions and personalities, grow to be the standing stone creatures, bird-head rocks, laughing seed pods, orators, teachers, protectors and gargoyles, along with many others just waiting to come to life. As a painter of life, I feel honored to be able to unearth and release the ancient, timeless energy stored in the natural objects and create surreal landscapes or mystical worlds where characters are born and live out their stories. For me, these characters become keys to our sub-conscious reality, helping us become consciously aware of our life’s path, our journey.
All the work is created on panels using fluid acrylics since I really enjoy the feeling of the smoother, more liquid quality of the paint against the firm, sturdy nature of the panels. As I always work from life, I generally set up and focus on one painting at a time. My compositions are kept purposefully close to the viewer so as to create a sense of intimacy, familiarity and hopefully a conscious awareness of universal metaphors.
