ARTIST STATEMENT

"My work depicts fragments which make up the monumentality of nature. I have discovered a relationship and balance among the process of painting and drawing, nature, spirituality, alchemy, and the progression of time. These ideas are the basis for my abstraction while the simplicity and beauty of a distant view, setting sun, or passing cloud in the sky are my inspirations for painting. My intent for the viewer is to feel a sense of history, time, and emotion through the additive building of marks and color and to reflect upon the magnitude of his natural surroundings. In my own experience, the exploration of nature through painting has become a true investigation of the driving forces and elements that make up the totality of the world around us.

These ideas are merely a foundation for discovery. As a painter I am constantly searching within my own process to understand the world around me. In my recent body of work, Coastal Interpretations, the sea is a metaphor for the union of time and space. The sea appears ageless as though untouched by time and serves as the visual equivalent of infinite space. It is the overwhelming presence of space which first drew me towards the sea. Many works in varied disciplines from Manet and Turner to Robert Louis Stevenson have influenced my vision and understanding of the sea. Because I am drawn to it as a source of sublime inspiration I too feel the need to offer my interpretations.

The primary medium for this body of work is Encaustic and Oil paint on canvas-mounted panels. I apply the paint (wax) in a molten liquid state to capture the constant motion of the water and ever-changing coastal atmosphere. My process consists of applying, removing and glazing layers of wax and oil until the appropriate balance is achieved. This results in a hard and sometimes jewel-like surface quality with many transparent layers. I view this process as a parallel to the eternal struggle among natural elements to sustain equilibrium in our surrounding environments.

Visually my work may be perceived as abstracted fragments of a greater whole and a literal representation of space. My work is simply an interpretation of my surroundings, inspirations, and influences as I see them and as they affect me at that time."  A. Wapinski 2006

RESUME

EDUCATION
2004 M.F.A University of Delaware Newark, DE Concentration: Painting
2001 Graduate Studies, Syracuse University Humanism and the Arts in Renaissance Italy
Traveling Seminar Italy, Europe
2001 B.F.A. Kutztown University Kutztown, PA Concentration: Painting Minor: Art History

EXHIBITIONS
2005 Lynden Gallery, Elizabethtown, PA
2004 Lynden Gallery, Elizabethtown, PA
MFA Thesis Exhibition: Natural Process University Gallery at Old College University of Delaware Newark, DE
Art Happens II University Gallery University of Delaware Newark, DE
2003
Art Happens University Gallery University of Delaware Newark, DE
Spring Exhibition University Gallery University of Delaware Newark, DE
Berks Art Alliance 26th Annual Juried Exhibition Reading Public Museum Reading, PA
75th Annual International Juried Exhibition, Art Association of Harrisburg, Harrisburg, PA
2002
Fall Exhibition Recitation Gallery Newark, DE University Of Delaware
Invitational Exhibition Gallery 20 Reading, PA
Red Gallery 20 Reading, PA
Annual Juried Show Artist's House Gallery Newark Art Alliance Newark, DE
Annual Juried Show Allied Artists Gallery Allied Artists of Schuylkill County Pottsville, PA
74th Annual International Juried Exhibition, Art Association of Harrisburg, Harrisburg, PA
2001
Take Another Look Gallery 20 Reading, PA B.F.A Exhibition Sheridan Gallery Kutztown University Kutztown, PA

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2005
Lincoln University, Adjunct Faculty, Art History, Art Appreciation, Spring 2005
2004
Lincoln University, Adjunct Faculty, Art History, Art Appreciation, Fall 2004
Lehigh Carbon Community College Adjunct Faculty, Art History, Fall 2004
University of Delaware Adjunct Faculty, Elementary Drawing and Painting, Summer 2004
University of Delaware Instructor of Record, Drawing II September Spring 2004
2003
University of Delaware Instructor of Record, Drawing 1 Fall 2003
University of Delaware Instructor of Record, Elementary Drawing and Painting, Summer 2003
University of Delaware Instructor of Record, Drawing Materials and Techniques, Summer 2003
2002 University of Delaware Instructor of Record, Two-Dimensional Design Fall2002, Spring 2003
2001Lehigh Carbon Community College Adjunct Faculty, Art History Fall 2001

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Cognitive Learning Center, Elizabethtown, PA
University of Delaware, Newark, DE

AWARDS
2003-2004 Full Graduate Teaching Assistantship, University of Delaware
2002-2003 Full Graduate Teaching Assistantship, University of Delaware

MEMBERSHIPS
Arlington Arts Center, Arlington, VA
College Art Association
Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts, Wilmington, DE

PRESS RELEASES  

Andrew V. Wapinski, Paintings, Lynden Gallery - November 2006