Magda Trzaski "Memento Mori"

www.MagdaTrzaski.com

I live and work in Toronto where I keep a small studio that is brightly lit, open, and clean. It’s completely done in black and white to give my mind freedom to move and create. I love the graphic quality of color against black and white. And, though I have moved my studio several times in the past few years, I always maintain this monochromatic color scheme and add bits of red to it to keep me focused, and at the same time, inspired to create.

My family emigrated to Canada from Poland — by way of Denmark — when I was 12, and I made the painful adjustment to middle school without speaking any English. I found my feet when I went to college and studied art. There was no language barrier to creating and comprehending art.

In my work I attempt to freeze a moment, and I enjoy making it compelling in its starkness. People ask me about my shadow box sculptures and what they mean. Instead of telling a complete story, I prefer instead to choose a small and compact concept — sometimes something vague or unsettling — and focus on the craft of the piece (I confess, I am a real perfectionist). I enjoy allowing viewers to draw what they can from the presented concept.



I start with a sketch and then move into a 3-D piece. Along the way to creating each piece I rediscover that simple things can mean different things to different people — some see nothing, others relate and are drawn into the piece. I will say that my constant dream of fantastic freedom and complete escape of the ordinary and the required is in my work — the red balloon is my metaphor. Yes, my dark side comes out in my work as the balloon often tangles in the whirling arms of a tree’s branches, its string caught unexpectedly. This is just as we are in a tangle of chores and life’s small and large tragedies.

My desk area can get messy with sketches and works in progress. I work with paperclay and my sculpting and finishing process is very labor-intensive and time-consuming. I take breaks from my sculpting work to walk my dog, have a cup of tea, blog, and read. I also then switch to sewing — my grandfather was a tailor, as was my mom, so I suppose I am continuing the family profession since my works all have sewn elements.

I am influenced by the 17th century Dutch painters who deftly reminded us of our mortality through their heavily symbolic stilllifes, and I am also intrigued by the Victorians’ obsession with paraphernalia and collections. These influences and themes are echoed in our pop culture by the likes of Tim Burton and Edward Gorey, with their allusions to the afterlife and the fleeting nature of earthly pleasures through black comedy and imagery.

My constant companion is my wonderful dog Walter. He is the perfect studio assistant. Compassionate and never critical. Yes, he is an art-lover and yes, he is bilingual — he understands Polish and English commands!