Today we’d like to introduce you to David Borawski.
Today we’d like to introduce you to David Borawski.
David, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I liked to draw a lot as a kid. Growing up an only child, I made my own comic books and cartoons to occupy my alone time.
I wanted to go to art school. My father thought accounting would be a better pursuit, but my mother supported me and art school it was.
My first day in freshman “foundations” class at the University of Hartford Art School, I was struck with the realization that high school failed me, I had missed some of the most important movements of art, minimalism, conceptualism, et al, art that would influence me from that moment on. I was set free that day!
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I create conceptually driven work that reflects upon iconic cultural and societal events and/or moments that have influenced major shifts in our collective consciousness, but now may be near the point of forgetting. Unlike younger artists touching on some of the same subjects, somewhat romantically, I have lived through the events I choose and inject those memories.
I am inspired by the images that are burned into the subconscious of our collective psyche. I tend to choose darker subject matter, issues that keep coming back to haunt us. There are a lot of great artists making beautiful pictures, some have to make the disturbing ones.
For each exhibition, I combine and arrange multiple elements and mediums, (i.e. sculpture, video, digital images, etc.), which invoke visual and cognitive signs, or “clues”, that elicit a (sub)conscious nostalgia, building multiple layers of information to be considered and processed.
Implied references to politics, pop culture and art history suggest connections and idiosyncrasies while exposing them as uncanny precursors to present-day realities.
How do you think about success, as an artist, and what do quality do you feel is most helpful?
Success is always a moving target. I define it for me as being able to make the work I want to make, have exhibitions and be recognized by my peers. I recently was awarded a Berkshire Taconic Artist’s Resource Trust Fund grant, and a Connecticut Artist Fellowship. I also don’t think about sales, my work can be difficult, so when it does happen, it’s a pleasant surprise. I don’t let that dictate what I make.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
My work is on my website http://rot8tor.org. Upcoming for me, I will have an installation included in the 2019 Portal: Governors Island in New York this September.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.rot8tor.org
- Other: http://participator.us
Image Credit:
David Borawski
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