RICHARD WLODARCZAK, "Faith and Reason," Sept 19 - Oct 22, 2005, Art Works Gallery, Vancouver

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"DeProfundis"

Richard Wlodarczak, "DeProfundis," 2005, oil and tar on canvas, 55" x 79".

RICHARD WLODARCZAK, Faith and Reason

Art Works Gallery, Vancouver

Sept 19 - Oct 22, 2005

By Beverly Cramp

According to Carl Jung, “One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious,” and by Jung’s standard, Richard Wlodarczak is well on his way to becoming enlightened. His teachers at the University of Manitoba in 1994 and the Art Institute of Chicago in 1996 commented on his dark themes, a quality about which Wlodarczak is all too aware. “There is a somber darkness to my work,” he says, attributing it partly to the influence of seeing passion imagery and bible mythology at Catechism classes while growing up in Winnipeg. “But I’m trying to find a little bit of light in the darkness in my recent work.” His Faith and Reason show captures this battle. It isn’t about the difference between religion and science but rather, as Wlodarczak writes in his artistic statement, “...the internal battle: body and mind, flesh and spirit, male and female, light and dark.” Wlodarczak works primarily in oil on canvas. In the past few years, he has incorporated materials such as tar and rye for texture. “The rye is from my mother’s garden. It has a great sense of mystery and earthiness to it. There is something enigmatic about it,” Wlodarczak says, admitting that he is not completely clear about the motives and meanings behind his paintings. Instead he remains faithful to his pursuit of the art process, which he describes as modern in sensibility while retaining the mystery of the primeval.

Represented by: Art Works Gallery, Vancouver.