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Artist's
Statement
Simple things bring unlimited
richness to our lives. Because they are so commonplace, however,
we ourselves often limit our vision of them and lose the pleasure
and profundity they offer us. Often it is necessary to enshrine
everyday things in the form of art before people will give them
the attention they deserve. Putting them in the traditional place
of venerated objects can make people notice and respect them in
ways that they never would in daily life. And – if we’re
lucky – these viewers will begin to appreciate the world
around them in the same way they appreciate art. Their eyes will
become their artists, and the world will be their museum.
One of the simple things
we spend little time appreciating is light, and especially the
way it acts on ordinary things in our surroundings. My work focuses
on the interplay of light with everyday materials whose aestetics
we often overlook. Light changes the world when it shows us reality
through glass. In glass vessels, light and shadow, brightness
and darkness, bring us endless variation as time passes and surroundings
change. This ephemeral beauty is still richer when glass overlaps
and two sets of form and color act not only side by side, but
through and in one another.
Fabric is another source
of richness we ignore. We wear it, we clean things with it, we
cover cars with it, drop food on it, sleep on it, but we seldom
give it the notice it deserves. Fabric is intimate with light,
but it does not let light force its will on it. Light can play
on it, but usually not through it. Fabric generally defines light’s
game by its own surface. Silks send light off in an exciting shimmer,
while rougher weaves give a software image that can be subdued
yet more profound.
If there is a simple message
to my work, it is, “Look!” Sure, look at the art,
but let the art lead you to look at life. Go back to my inspiration
and make it your inspiration. Really knowing simple things can
change everything.
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Biography
Initiation into art, and
the life of a career artist, came to Joanna Tlok through a series
of chance events. Her first experience in art-making came when
she was seven years old. At the time, it was popular in her native
Poland for children to keep diaries, to which their friends would
make contributions. When asked to add to such a diary that one
of her friends was keeping, Joanna’s mother helped her compose
a floral design to go with the note she composed. This activity
so engaged Joanna that it launched a life of creative work.
It took several more years,
however, for the ambition of being a professional artist to take
hold. At that pivotal point of adolescence when Poles finish primary
school and have to choose a specialized secondary school which
might determine their lifelong career path, Tlok still did not
even know art was a possibility for her. Coming from a smaller
town, she had no exposure to professional artists and knew nothing
of art education at the secondary and college level. This is when
pure coincidence once again entered the scene: During a brief
hospitalization her mother had a roommate who was related to a
student attending art school, and this chance meeting gave Joanna
the direction she needed to get formal training in visual arts.
After years of work as a
professional artist and a teacher in Poland, Tlok immigrated to
the United States with her husband, Marek, and their children,
where she has begun her career with a new audience.
While Tlok’s paintings
are figurative, color and light are, in fact, her true subject
matter. Her two main vehicles for helping us appreciate these
elements are her depictions of glass and fabric. She is always
impressed with the play of light and shadow on the surface and
interior of glass vessels and with the way shape and color are
affected when glass overlaps.
In her examinations of fabric,
Tlok finds gratification in bringing us uncommon studies of the
commonplace. Fabric is so ubiquitous and plays such a huge role
in everyday life – we wear it, sit on it, sleep under it,
wash things with it, and use it as decoration – that people
seldom take the time to appreciate its visual qualities and its
interplay with light. This is what Tlok shows to us by making
simple fabric the subject of thoughtful painting, and she hopes
that her work will encourage people to notice the beauty of simple
things in their everyday surroundings.
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Resume
Experience
January 1994 ~ Present - Self Employed, Westland,
Michigan
ARTIST: Painting, various art projects
September 1982 ~ September 1986 - Elementary School, Swidnica,
Poland
TEACHER - PRIMARY EDUCATION
January 1984 ~ December 1985 - Folk Cultural Center, Opoczka,
Poland
ARTIST / ART TEACHER
September 1980 ~ September 1982 - WARTEX CORPORATION, Swidnica,
Poland
FASHION DESIGNER
Education
September 1984 ~ September 1986 - Pedagogical College, Walbrzych,
Poland
FINE ARTS EDUCATION
Degree: Associate, 1986
September 1975 ~ September 1981 - National Academy of Fine
Arts, Wroclaw, Poland
FINE ARTS
Degree: Dipolma, 1981
Professional Achievements
2021 - Art Expo New York, NY, October 28-31, catalog presentation by Artavita
2019 - Art Exhibition at the International Art Fair, Spectrum Miami, FL, 4-8 of December
2019 - The winner of the 33rd International Online Artavita Art Contest (out of 3962 artworks submitted by 1287 artists), two winning works: "Special Occasion" and "In the Flower Shop"
2016 - 2018 - Art Leaders Gallery, West Bloomfield, MI - Display of current art works
2016 - Art Exhibition, Art Gallery, Troy, Michigan
2015 - ART EXPO Milano, Italy, July 2 - September 30, artexpo2015.com
2015 - ARTPRIZE participant, Grand Rapids, Michigan, artprize.org
2014 - ARTPRIZE participant, Grand Rapids, Michigan
2014 July - November - WSG Gallery, Ann Arbor, Michigan - Display of current art works as a Guest Artist
2013 - The Harris Building, Grand Rapids - Display/Charity Auction of art work
2013 - ARTPRIZE participant, Grand Rapids, Michigan
2012 - 2014 - Frame Art gallery, Birmingham, Michigan - Display of current art works
2012 - The Finalists Exhibition at The Alfred Berkowitz Gallery, The University of Michigan - Dearborn
2011 - One Person Exhibition, at University Liggett School, Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan
2010 - Merit Award for "Four Rose Series," The Twenty-Fifth Annual Kubinski Art Competition, Orchard Lake Galeria, Michigan
2010 - An Invitational Fine Arts Exhibition, Padzieski Art Gallery, Dearborn, Michigan
2010 - Merit Award for "Tulip", The Art Museum Project at The University of Michigan - Dearborn, All-Michigan, All-media, Open Competition
2010 - The Finalists Exhibition at The Alfred Berkowitz Gallery, The University of Michigan - Dearborn
2008 - The Judge at Annual Kubinski Art Competition, Orchard Lake Galeria, Michigan
2005 - One-person exhibition at the Eclectic Art & Object Gallery, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania
2005 - A piece "WINTER" has been selected as a finalist of the 22nd Annual Artist's Magazine Art Competition.
2004 ~ present - Eclectic Art & Objects
Gallery, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Display of current art works
- (412) 734-2099
2004 - A piece "FALL" has been selected
as a finalist of the 21th Annual Artist's Magazine's Art
Competition.
2004 - The
Artist of the Month on the website, www.ArtistsMagazine.com.
2003 - A piece "A TREE" has been selected
as a finalist of the 20th Annual Artist's Magazine's Art
Competition.
2003 - The finalists Exhibition at the International
Show "Global ARTlook", MatrixArts Space, Sacramento,
California.
2003 - The Scarab Club Silver Medal Annual Exhibition,
Detroit, Michigan
2002 - First Place, The Seventeenth Annual Kubinski Art Competition,
Orchard Lake Galeria, Michigan
2002 ~ 2004 - TRA Art Group, Troy, Michigan - Display of
current art works
2002 ~ 2004 - R J Laney Design, Royal Oak, Michigan – Display
of current art works
2002 - Merit Award, The Scarab Club Silver Medal Annual
Exhibition, Detroit, Michigan
2001 - Best of Show, The Sixteenth Annual Kubinski Art
Competition, Orchard Lake Galeria, Michigan
2001 - One-person exhibition at the Galeria Orchard Lake
Schools, Orchard Lake, Michigan
2000 - One-person exhibition at the Gallery Birmingham,
Birmingham, Michigan
1999 ~ 2002 - Gallery Birmingham, Birmingham, Michigan
– Exhibition of current art works
1989 ~ 1991 - Vitro Art Gallery, Swidnica, Poland – Exhibition
of current art works
1989 ~ 1991 - Create art pieces to specific orders
1981 - Museum of Contemporary Art, Wroclaw, Poland – Collective
Exhibition
1981 - Nomination of art piece for Diploma
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