Luanne E Witkowski
Breakthrough, mixed natural and fabricated materials, 32 x19 inches, 2022
Artist Statement
Clarity
The daily routines of walking through forests, parks, and countryside of wildlife, flora and fauna followed by engagement with city streets, glass and artificial light interweave and inform as Witkowski creates and explores the interaction and juxtaposition of various materials. In doing so, she recalls the shared experiences grounded in each of us-- creating a perceptual and spiritual relationship for recognition of and solace for the self. This approach to the identification of the individual with landscape and environment is enlarged by a desire to discover and contact the particular indwelling essence or energy of clarity.
This body of work is a response to the world around and within us. The relationships are interwoven. Nature’s handiwork impresses and informs all matter –present and passed, permanent and ephemeral, physical and virtual. Layers of materials and recollection create perceptual and spiritual relationships that serve as a locus for grounding, recognition, and solace. In her March 2023 solo exhibit, Clarity, Witkowski reflects on shared isolation, the impacts of repetitious exposure, and salvation. She uses both found natural materials and fabricated cast-offs and scraps, focusing on composition, recurrent pattern, minimalist form, and color to create a response to the fragile systems of beauty and the power that exist in both the natural world and urban landscapes. All of this is accessible through the contemplative creative process of perception and felt by us when we allow ourselves to relax and use our five senses.
Artist Bio
Luanne E Witkowski is an artist working in a wide range of media and reflective social practice. Using mixed materials and processes her constructions, paintings, prints, and multi-media exhibits are reflections on observations of the natural world and humanity through her experiences creating environmental and site specific installations. Luanne’s pieces reflect her curiosity and interest in ephemera vs eternal and she also produces ‘portraits of place’.
Her works are in collections throughout the United States and abroad. She has been a member of the Kingston Gallery in Boston since 2005 and is affiliated with Hutson Gallery and AMP Gallery in Provincetown. Her organization affiliations include the United South End Artists, Mission Hill Artist Collective, and the Provincetown Art Association and Museum. Witkowski is a recipient of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Lifetime Achievement in Art & Commerce Commendation, UMB Faculty Award, and Wellfleet Boathouse AIR.
In addition to her studio practice, she is the Assistant Design Studio Director, adjunct faculty, and LR-MFA Mentor and 2019 AIR at Massachusetts College of Art and Design. She teaches Creative Thinking in the Critical & Creative Thinking (CCT) graduate program at the University of Massachusetts-Boston.
Exhibitions
Boundaries/Borders: A Member's Group Exhibition, March 2-27, 2022
Surface, group show on Artsy, November 1-30, 2021
Anthropocene Vegetations, group show on Artsy, September 1-28, 2021
On the Surface, group show on Artsy, April 1-30, 2021
Off The Wall, group show on Artsy, March 1-31, 2021
Transformations, group show on Artsy, May 28-June 18, 2020
Same Not Same, October 2-27, 2019
Burning Desire, April 5-30, 2017
New Observations, March 30-May 1, 2016
I Know Just What You're Saying, January 6-31, 2016
IV, January 2 - February 2, 2014
PLACE, October 31–December 2, 2012
LOST + FOUND, November 2-27, 2011
Kingston Gallery Annual Members' Exhibition, August 31-October 2, 2011
Publications
2015 D. Foreman (2015), Contemporary Cape Cod Artists: on Abstraction, Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, LTD
2003 L. E. Witkowski (2003), Basic Training: Inspiring institutional change in higher education in the fine and professional arts through wholistic practice and sustainability education, Boston, MA: University of Massachusetts
Contact & Links
Press + Media
Boundaries/Borders: A Member's Group Exhibition, Press Release, March 12, 2022
"Some thoughts on AR in Luanne E Witkowski's Work." Kingston Blog, October 17, 2019.
"Luanne E Witkowski and Denise Marika: STRATA." Kingston Blog, September 21, 2018.
McQuaid, Cate. "When video and painting converse." The Boston Globe, September 12, 2018.
Luanne E Witkowski and Denise Marika in STRATA (Update)
Luanne E Witkowski Illuminates Presence in New Observations, a Solo Exhibition at Kingston Gallery