Elaine Kazimierczuk

Me, the artist - this is how I do it: Sometimes I work en plein air, but that’s not easy with large canvases, so I usually begin with quick sketches outdoors. I record the shapes, the colours, contours, shadows, the weather, the mood. I take lots of photographs. Then, back in the studio, I transform this collection of images and impressions into paintings which are semi-abstract in style. But then, all painting is abstract in a sense; painters abstract elements of colour, light and energy from the interplay of patterns before them. My technique, if you can call it that, allows me to achieve a tension between looseness and control, moving between spontaneity and deliberation. The intention is to make paintings that interpret the natural world - the sheer untidiness of it, from the summer exuberance of a herbaceous border in a cottage garden to the intricate assemblage of wild beauty in an autumn hedgerow.
Portrait work is another matter. Making landscapes feels like working outwards, but when I’m making portraits, I’m working inwards – of course, I’m painting the effect of light on the surface of skin, a face or a hand – but in a way, I’m looking into the interior of the person to discover what's there, in effect, the interiority of the subject. I prefer to make full-figure pieces because this allows a greater narrative.

Winner of Oxford Mary Moser Award, 2018
Selected as one of TOP 5 at The Other Art Fair, London Oct 2017, by Art Aesthetics. 'One to watch and definitely one to buy ...'

I'm a painter and I work every day and every day I learn more. My credentials? BSc and MA if you want to know, but that's irrelevant. When it comes to painting, I'm self-taught, but then, aren't we all, when it comes down to it? You've got to find your own way of working and keep at it. I assisted a sculptor for many years, making preparatory drawings as well as working on the 3D stuff – excellent training for eye-to-brain-to-hand – eventually it’s just eye-to-hand. I look at the work of other artists as often as I can – in studios, galleries, installations, anywhere, any genres. I like to get up close and see the maker's marks, see how they do it.

Upcoming events:

'At home' Oxford, 8-16 May. Open daily 1-6pm Contact me for further details or the arrange a personal appointment time.

'Re-Fresh', Major solo show at The North Wall, Oxford,17 - 25 May 2021 see https://www.thenorthwall.com/whats-on/elaine-kazimierzcuk-re-fresh/

The Other Art Fair, London, Summer 2021, dates and venue details tba

'Fresh Work', Major solo show at The North Wall, Oxford, May 2020, postponed until May 2021

‘March into Spring’, Brian Sinfield Gallery, Burford, Oxon, March- April 2020

Solo Show, Oxford University Press, March 2020

‘Turn of the Year’ Cornerstone Gallery, Didcot, Dec 2019 - Jan 2020

‘Affordable Art Fair’, Edinburgh, with Gala Fine Art, November 2019

'The Other Art Fair', Victoria House, Bloomsbury, October 2019.

‘Where the Wild Thyme Grows’ Jam Factory, Oxford, August - September 2019

‘Summer in the Studio’ and ‘What Do Artists Do All Day?’ St Giles’, Oxford June - August 2019

'Chromantics', Cornerstone Gallery, Didcot, April 2019

'The Other Art Fair', London, March 2019

Solo Show, The Brian Sinfield Gallery, Burford February 2019

Seven Artists, Gala Fine Art, Bristol, November 2018

Oxfordshire Art Weeks, 12- 20 May 2018

'The Other Art Fair', Bristol, June 2018

'The Other Art Fair', London, Oct 2017

'The Other Art Fair', Bristol Sep 2017

'Language of Form' , Tarpey Gallery, June/July 2017

Oxfordshire Art Weeks, May 2017

'Recent Landscapes' The Jam Factory, Oxford 2016

'Stephen Green' was shortlisted for the 2016 BP National Portrait Competition

Midlands Open, Tarpey Gallery, Castle Donington, 2015, 2016, 2017

'Dark Hedges, Bright Meadows', Webbs Fine Art Gallery, Clapham, 2015

Selected Contemporary Artists of the East Midlands, Newfield Gallery, Newark-on-Trent, 2015

Clapham, Private Exhibition, 2014

Djanogly Gallery, Nottingham, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

Melbourne Arts Festival, 2011, 2013
Online


Publications

A Nottinghamshire Notebook, 1986, Cromwell Press, ISBN 0-9511385-0-2

A Derbyshire Notebook, 1988, J. H. Hall, ISBN 0-946404-76-3

A Lincolnshire Notebook, 1991, Hutton Press, ISBN 1-872167-21-7

Icons of the Invisible God, 1999, Chevron, ISBN 0-9535627-0-0