STORYTELLER Painting

Jan Schusswohl is an artist from Czech Republic. Art is something he brought with him when my family moved to the US at a young age. Art has always served him as an instrument to fulfill an urgent need to create. It has been a way to process the surrounding world. Jan’s hope is for people to take the essence of that urgency with them after seeing his work. It’s nothing new that art can come from people’s everyday adversities. This idea is not limited to oil painting. Our perceptions of these events change as our bodies and minds change. We learn to view things through different lenses and we navigate our worlds accordingly. Jan makes a mixture of oils on canvas, works on paper and stained glass. The theme of his work surrounds the idea of memory, recall and witnessing. He offers suggestions toward narrative storytelling in his paintings. He does this by using his own memories of things that he’s experienced. These paintings are lively, luminous and naturalistic. Jan’s creative practice is largely informed by his personal voyage. This includes several career changes while never losing track of his art practice. Lines of work took him from being a practicing artist to serving in the Army National Guard, the Public Defender’s office and Department of Justice. Schusswohl’s art incorporates information from his daily encounters, discussions, influences and simply paying attention to the environment. His works both document his life and explore how the environment influences us to transform and evolve. An expressive examination of urgency to create while still needing to survive, Jan’s work illustrates the nature of what it means to live. Jan lives in Rhode Island with his wife and son. His works have been exhibited in numerous group and solo exhibitions throughout New England and New York City.