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Artist Exhibitions:
Coming Soon!
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Artist Galleries:
Coming Soon!
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Artist Reviews:
Coming Soon!
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Collections:
Thermwood Corporation,
Corporate Headquarters, Dale,
IN, USA
American Visu Showroom,
American Home Furnishings
Center, High Point, NC, USA
Elwood Lilly collection,
Renowned Furniture Designer,
High Point, NC, USA
Northcutt Investment Building,
Santa Rosa Beach, FL, USA
...
Further Information
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Commissions:
Coming Soon!
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Artist Statement for Ken Susnjara
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Conversation with the Artist
How would you, the artist, characterize your magnificent paintings?
Well first, they’re not really MY paintings. In most art, the result is defined by, and limited by, the artist. In the techniques that I developed, I am more of an art “conductor”, like the conductor of an orchestra, than a creator. The conductor makes the music happen but it is the individual talent of the musicians that define its true quality. In my art, I used my engineering and technical background and an understanding of the physical, reflective and refractive characteristics of the materials and pigments to create a set of conditions under which these special materials mix, flow and interact. Then the materials react to the Earth’s gravity, the air, the ambient heat and each other and, with the addition of time create the intricate shapes and effects you see. The true beauty isn’t from the conductor but from the materials themselves and the natural forces that manipulate them. The final result is something so complex, so special that I don’t think it could ever be created by the hand of a person. As you stand back, you see the basic shape, color and structure of the painting. As you move closer, finer and finer detail becomes apparent. The closer you get the more you discover. If you use a magnifying glass, you find even finer more intricate detail. This just can’t be done with an artist’s brush.
What materials do you use?
I use a modern crystal clear urethane based industrial coating material into which various organic pigments, minerals, metallics, metal flakes, pearls and even some high-technology man-made color-change materials are mixed in varying degrees. Then, during the application process, the mixtures are made to interact and flow. This interaction, and especially the flow, orient and align the pigments and metallics, creating the special effects you see in the paintings. I also layer semi-transparent sheets of contrasting material over each other to create special effects that can’t be achieved using a single material.
What is the painting surface made of?
The painting itself is artist’s canvas, stretched over a wood frame, but even this is somewhat special. I have access to some rather sophisticated computer controlled woodworking machines so the basic frame has been sculpted from a high quality multi-layered, veneered ply. The corners are precisely machined puzzle joints. The parts lock together like the joints of a jigsaw puzzle, but very precisely. Raw canvas is then stretched over the frame and layer after layer of a special catalyzed polymer is applied to the canvas with extensive hand work between layers, eventually resulting in a glass smooth, but flexible surface. It requires at least twenty-five individual steps just to prepare the frame and surface for the color.
Why don’t you start with a smoother material like a metal sheet?
Although it would be much easier, it won’t work. The surface of the painting must be perfectly smooth and tight, like a drum head, but must also be flexible. Before flowing the pigmented materials, the surface must be prodded into hills and valleys and many times the shape of these hills and valleys must be changed and adjusted during the coloring process. These hills and valleys are shallow, but are steep enough to get the pigments and clear urethane to move and flow and are critical to the final result. The sealed surface must be stiff and smooth enough for the color application but must also be flexible enough to bend and twist into the proper shapes without cracking. Preparation of the canvas has become a science itself.
You said you layer the paintings. How many layers are in a typical painting?
Most paintings require between twenty and fourty layers. The number of layers depends on the colors used and the effects I am trying to achieve. To be honest, I don’t really know how many layers a painting will have when I first start. The flow, interaction and effects of the layers already put down tell me if additional layers are necessary. From experience, I know how new materials will interrelate with existing effects already achieved so I constantly interact with the flowing, changing pigments as the pouring and curing process proceeds.
How long does it take to make a painting?
Preparation of a frame and canvas can take quite awhile. Between the individual coating, hand work and curing times required, it can take fifty to eighty hours to properly prepare a canvas for color. The coloration process requires between six and twelve hours depending on the materials and number of colors, however, several paintings can be poured at the same time because much of the time is spent waiting for material to interact, flow and cure. For this reason I tend to do paintings in groups using common colors applied in slightly different configurations on each individual painting.
Do you sign the paintings?
Yes, but I sign them on the back, not the front. Different people see different things in each painting and different people will orient a painting differently on a wall based on their own preferences and what they see. If I sign the painting on the front, I, and not the owner, decide how the painting should hang based on where I put the signature and I don’t think that’s right. In fact, the square paintings have corner braces in the back so they can be hung diagonally if you want. Round paintings can be hung in any orientation.
Do you name your paintings?
No, at least not individual paintings. I may denote a grouping of paintings with a name based on the inspiration for the colors used in the paintings but I do not name individual pieces. This is for the same reason I don’t sign the front of the paintings. Different people see different things in each piece and I want their personal imaginations to help define the piece. If I name it, I will certainly influence how people feel about the work and will influence what they see in it. I don’t want to do that.
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