DJ Kolodziej Stawasz
D. J. Kolodziej Stawasz
The creative career of D. J. Kolodziej Stawasz spans both his professional and personal life.
Graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in studio art and art history, and a Master of Business Administration degree in marketing, Kolodziej Stawasz pursued a professional career in Communications while at the same time engaging in a personal career in theater set design. Currently, he estimates that he has designed and painted more than 130 sets for Massachusetts theater organizations.
Having grown up in an environment that encouraged creative endeavors,
Kolodziej Stawasz pursued his early attraction to landscapes, particularly their
textural elements and how they evoke feelings, through the watercolor medium.
This continued in his designs for theater sets where he explored the use of paint to
replicate the textures of hard and soft landscape elements. “As a creative person my creative interests go beyond the fine art of drawing and painting and include theater set design and painting, furniture design and other aspects of my everyday
surroundings.”
Kolodziej Stawasz is currently working in pencil exploring how black, white and
shades of grey can create textures that the viewer can emotionally feel. “I want the viewer to be drawn into the drawing and feel its subject matter. To feel the grass, the ocean breeze, smell flowers, and be transported to that location. The images I draw are places that have elicited an emotional response in me. My drawings are my personal reflections and feelings. What I choose to draw is not contrived but driven in some instances by my subconscious thoughts, other times by my consciousness about a particular subject. ”
ARTIST WORK STATEMENT
“When I first started working in pencil it seemed strange to me since it felt so natural to have that instrument in my fingers.”
“I draw like a painter. My style is to build up layers of graphite, varying the pencil hardness depending on the shade of black or grey desired, while using the color of the paper to help achieve translucency. I also vary the pressure applied to the pencil as well as the stroke used to create the shapes inherent in the drawing.”
“I look for scenes that have a number of the following attributes: a strong light source, strong textural elements, a dynamic vantage point or perspective, conflicting angles and/or shapes, and an interesting subject matter that relates to me in some form, which has had an emotional response in me.”
“Landscapes speak to me so I favor this type of subject matter. When executing my drawings, I strive to depict the emotion and connection I felt when first viewing the subject matter. I try to transmit this through the pencil onto the paper. More recently my works have become metaphors for my reactions to events occurring in my world whether they be personal, political, or environmental. I usually add more detail to the drawing, from my recollection of the subject matter, than what is available in the photocopy.”
“Writers write, dancers dance, actors act, pianist play, and I draw…….to express ourselves.”
AWARDS
• BROKEN – Winner, Newburyport Five Cents Savings Bank Award for Best Work in Drawing, 2014 Newburyport Art Association’s Fall Members’ Juried Show, October 2014.
• CHARLIE – Winner, Newburyport Five Cents Savings Bank Award for Best Work in Drawing, 2016 Newburyport Art Association’s Fall Members’ Juried Show, October 2016.
• REMEMBER – Winner, Matter Communications, Inc. Award for Best Work in Drawing, 2017 Newburyport Art Association’s Winter Members’ Juried Show, January 2017.
• LOOKOUT – Winner, Area Industrial Development Foundation Award for Best Work in Drawing, 2017 Newburyport Art Association’s Fall Members’ Juried Show, October 2017.
• RAINFOREST – NAA Honorable Mention Award for Drawing, 2018 Newburyport Art Association’s Fall Members’ Juried Show, October 2018.
• FRIENDS – Winner, 2021 North Shore Art Association Spring Art Exhibition, May 2021;
• FRIENDS – Winner, Best Drawing, 25th Annual Newburyport Art Association Regional Juried Show, May 2022.
• SOLITUDE – Winner Best in Drawing, 2023 Newburyport Arts Winter Juried Show.
• SURVIVAL – Winner, Best Nature Image, Newburyport Arts 2024 National Juried Show.
• SURVIVAL – Winner, Robert Stephenson Award for Best in any Medium, August 2024.
• MISGUIDED – Winner, Institution for Savings Award for Excellence in any Medium, North Shore Arts’ Exhibit New England ’24.
