Anna CHMIEL (b. 1970), Venus in Fur; 2017

oil, canvas; 80 x 65 cm
Signed p. d.: monogram AN/NA

The field of the artist's activity is, painting and visual arts in the broadest sense. Graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow at the Faculty of Conservation and Restoration of Works of Art . In art she seeks deep reflection, commitment and mastery. Life is a mystery for her, painting gives, as the artist says, the tools to explore it. She is associated with the Krakow-based "Pracownia Drożdżownia", "CSW Wiewiórka" and the "Sisters of the River" collective. She has had solo and group exhibitions as well as many creative activities and art projects. Her works are in private collections at home and abroad.

"In 2006 I came across a large collection of digitized Japanese photographs from the first half of the 20th century. The owner of the collection turned out to be a former U.S. soldier-Rob, who came to be stationed in Okinawa as a 20-year-old and has remained there. For almost half a century he has been photographing Japan's island of longevity and collecting old photos. Photography was an invention of the West so many of the ways of building scenery, light settings were related to European portraits. However, the Japanese assimilated the foreign technique and perfected it in their own distinctive way. Until the invention of color photography, photographs were reflected and painted by hand. I was fascinated by the artistic level of Japanese photographs and the perfection of the coloring. Over time, some colors began to discolor others faded. These changes gave the photographs a new character and this became the impetus for me to paint pictures. To relate to the theme of time and the portrait tradition, I decided to use the oil technique of the old masters of European painting. I made the sub-images and tinted emulsion primers myself. Over time, I transformed some of the shots by referring to contemporary art. An example is " Venus in Fur" which has the face of one of Araki's models, and instead of a scarf - a fur coat which alludes to Western culture. While painting this series, I traveled through time at a time diving deeper into the tradition of Japan."

Anna Chmiel