Issue 20 May 23, 2011 Abstract Expressionism: Jacob Feige (1979 - ) I make landscape paintings that are settings

for abstract events, and abstract paintings in a painted landscape. Jacob Feige's direct account of what he does would, on its face, point to the difference between depiction and abstraction, between the straightforward recording of a scene and its cerebral imagining. He says that he likes to go to a place and think about what a painting of that place would be like. His paintings are based on his own original photos. I like to have, he says, enough recognizable space in which something abstract can happen. Sensation, as it relates to the very act of looking, is clearly on his mind. For example, a mountain seems not to offer much in the way of abstract, but on the surface, a mountain is a surface upon which there is a constant play of light and shadow, and involves the perception of the individual. When Feige refers to the unification of the landscape and the abstract elements, he is also talking about how the artist reconciles what he sees, what he doesn't see, what is fixed, and what is fleeting.

The painting above, entitled Vigorous Blockade, identifies a specific locale, and yet the artist has constructed a scaffold-like structure and painted a series of drips that resemble ice blue stalactites which we would expect to find inside the cave, not at the mouth.

The abstract elements in Feige's paintings are spliced into the pictures, as if a film technique had been applied to a painterly process. These scientific/architectural forms are the hidden, mysterious parts of his paintings. Feige's having it both ways is a common occurrence in his paintings. For Feige, nature is represented not as it would appear to a camera and this despite his original photographic sources but as is is perceived by the human eye, as well as in recollection of the mind's eye. Place and the memory of a place and two entirely different images. Featured Artist: Dion Kurczek I was always a person who never stirred his coffee after pouring in the cream. I was fascinated with the fluid dynamic movement and swirling eddies as it blended in the cup. Dion Kurczek tries to convey this dynamism in his paintings, and he draws inspiration from natural sources from the macro and micro scales, from Hubble space telescope images to the

patterns made by subatomic particles in a bubble chamber.

forces at work determine the final result. Each work receives a coat of gloss varnish which adds a final pop to the colors and makes the work resemble a photograph of another world or dimension. The artist has a very experimental nature, and he continues to introduce new types of inks, paints, and other mediums into his work.

Rebirth, 2009 Kurczek is not only an abstract painter, but he is also a software and game developer, and an entrepreneur. When he is painting, Kurczek strives to capture a specific moment of interacting opposing forces. When the balance of the composition, the color range, and the play of lights against darks is just right, he tries to freeze this point in time and lock it into the surface. As for his technique, it was developed through years of trial and error. He uses acrylic inks to actualize his vision. The fluid acrylic colors blend and interact on a hard board, forming intricate and beautiful patterns and compositions. He sets the stage and directs the action, but the natural Angst, 2009 What Ive Been Up to Lately: A couple discovered me at our yard sale and bought all of my inventory at home to resell. It's nice to have the guarantee rather than wait until the paintings sell to get the money. They have given me several windows to paint. It's a new thing for me, and a little challenging. But I am having fun, and that's what counts.

Not bad for a first attempt, but it needs something. The person I sold it to did something with it and it supposedly looks wonderful, so I need to go see it. Next time I will do some beach-y colors, as requested. She is going to buy another one. I've been in sort of a rut. I haven't felt like painting and I think it shows. The garage (studio) is cramped with yard sale stuff, and I don't like it. Maybe that has something to do with it. Poem of the Month: Unhappy Marriage My existence Unfathomable and wanting I once saw Spring in your eyes. Fire and Ice, 24 x 30, acrylic and joint compound on canvas. My first window, Majesty: The banister has been left cold No jacket to warm it Shades of our Winter Hesitant haste. I catch the suit Hanging empty in the closet Shattering foreskin As I used to I I'll take your emotional property To my grave We've been reduced to pens & Post-it notes & hollow phone calls where your voice was once golden. 2011 cjh@cjhfineart.com www.cjhfineart.com