CHRISTIAN PAVLAKIS

AS I FACE A BLANK CANVAS, I LOOK THROUGH STACKS AND STACKS OF MY SKETCHES, SOME BEING COMPLETE DRAWINGS, AND OTHERS SIMPLY TWO LINES WHOSE PLACEMENT TOGETHER I FIND INTRIGUING. I ENJOY CONVEYING THESE SKETCHES ONTO ANY SIZE CANVAS. I AM COMFORTABLE WORKING ON SMALL PIECES AS WELL AS 10 TO 12 FOOT PAINTINGS.
​
TODAY THERE IS A FASCINATION IN CHALLENGING MY ARTISTIC ABILITY WITH THE EVENTUAL APPLICATION OF MY IMAGERY PORTRAYED IN DIFFERENT MEDIA, SUCH AS LIMITED EDITION SERIGRAPHS, PORCELAIN, CERAMICS AND CLOTHING.
​
I BEGAN PAINTING OIL ON CANVAS A THE AGE OF 10.  AT FIRST, MY SUBJECTS WERE STILL-LIFE AND LANDSCAPES, THEN I QUICKLY BEGAN TO EXPERIMENT WITH MY OWN IMAGES. THROUGH THE AGE OF 25, I PRIMARILY PAINTED IMAGES OF PEOPLE, BUT SUDDENLY THESE IMAGES BEGAN TO ESCAPE ME. I SOON FOUND MYSELF CREATING PAINTINGS WHICH BLENDED LINES, NON-REPRESENTATIONAL SHAPES AND COLORS. FOR THE NEXT 10 YEARS THIS STYLE DOMINATED MY WORK. WHILE IT PROVED TO BE QUITE POPULAR AND APPEALING TO MANY PEOPLE, IT DID NOT GIVE ME THE PERSONAL SATISFACTION THAT I HAD EXPERIENCED IN MY EARLY YEARS OF PAINTING. FOR ME, SOMETHING WAS MISSING – IT WAS THE CHALLENGE OF CREATING FIGURATIVE ART.
​
FOR SOME REASON, I NEEDED MY WORK TO EXPRESS MY FEELINGS WITH A MORE DRAMATIC STYLE.
AS I LOOK BACK NOW, I BELIEVE THAT THE NON-REPRESENTATIONAL STYLE, WITHOUT FIGURES, WAS SUBCONSCIOUSLY AN ACT OF DEVELOPING THE BACKGROUND DESIGN FOR MY PRESENT WORK. WHEN YOU PAINT FOR 10 YEARS BASICALLY USING ONLY COLOR AS YOUR THEME, YOU DEVELOP MANY NEW AND CREATIVE IDEAS FOR USE IN THE BACKGROUND OF A PAINTING.

THE IMAGES HAVE RETURNED TO MY STYLE, AND WITH THEM I CAN NOW MORE FULLY EXPRESS MY THOUGHTS AND INSPIRATIONS ON CANVAS. THESE INSPIRATIONS ARE DRAWN FROM MY LOVE FOR THE CLASSIC PLEASURES OF LIFE, FOR EXAMPLE -MUSIC, CONVEYED WITH A HINT OF SENSUALITY.  

 

THEREIN LIES THE CHALLENGE OF MY WORK, TO REINTERPRET A CLASSIC POSE OR ACTION AND CONVEY IT ON CANVAS IN A BOLD AND DISTINCTIVE STYLE.