Statement

This is my peace offering, a quiet distraction, amidst the constant noise and chaos…

There is so much beauty in this world that these works invite us all to live and fight for.  My work combines my love for nature’s endless transitions and transformations, of changing color, temperature, drama with the practice of being in the studio with my assorted materials and wild foraged collections. The results are works of intuitively focused, visual embodiments of experiential reflection. It is a message of quiet disruption; a respite amidst the whirling storm raging all around that remembers ”I am here.”

Using traditional and contrived tools, as well as natural and fabricated materials, I have created peace offerings. Visual moments of distraction to quiet the mind and soothe the heart. I invite the viewer to rest one’s mind in a snippet of calm, to disrupt the chaos of the status quo and simply be. We need quiet disruption.

The Work

I present here my combines of painting, printing, and construction using foraged and conventional materials. Through the repetitious and serendipitous practice of printmaking, the process of composing works from collected materials, to concocting recipes for paints and inks from ground spices, nuts, shells, and clay, I lose myself in the rhythms. Ultimately I am moved to an intuitive state of making, becoming one with the process. Images on paper stand alone as constructed expressions or are joined to canvas and panel, along with lumber and driftwood, bark and foliage, to center the attention and refocus the gaze.

The work presented here is a continued exercise in bridging processes, my concerns for the environments we share, and discovery of visual signaling and messaging in my practice. As an environmental advocate, social activist, and reflective practitioner, I find myself looking ahead and backward simultaneously. I am always curious and constantly considering the relationship between intention and action, action and results.

Artist Bio

Luanne E Witkowski is an artist working in a wide range of media and reflective social practice. Using mixed materials and processes, her constructions, paintings, prints, and multi-media exhibits are observations of the natural world and humanity. Guided by her own personal experiences in nature and in urban settings, Luanne creates environmental and site-specific installations. Luanne’s pieces reflect her curiosity and interest in the ephemeral vs the eternal.

Her works are in collections throughout the United States and abroad. She has been a member of the Kingston Gallery in Boston since 2005 and is affiliated with various galleries in Boston, Provincetown, Wellfleet, and Gloucester, MA. Her organization affiliations include the United South End Artists, Mission Hill Artist Collective, and the Provincetown Art Association and Museum. Witkowski is a recipient of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Lifetime Achievement in Art & Commerce Commendation, UMB Faculty Award, and Wellfleet Boathouse AIR.

In addition to her studio practice, she is the Assistant Design Studio Director, faculty for the MassArt mini-residency at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, LR-MFA Mentor and 2019 AIR at Massachusetts College of Art and Design. She teaches Creative Thinking in the Critical & Creative Thinking (CCT) graduate program at the University of Massachusetts-Boston.