Today we’d like to introduce you to Eric Stefanski.
Eric, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I’m originally from Chicago, I graduated from the DePaul Business School in 2010 but shortly after I started taking classes at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. That experience was really important because I met a large group of artists, I became more disciplined in my studio practice and it exposed me to a more contemporary conversation about painting. That led to The School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston where I received my MFA in 2015. I studied with some great artists there and experimented with different materials, techniques and approaches to making work. A little over a year ago I moved back to Chicago, set up a studio and have been teaching art at a local college since.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I think of my paintings as back drops for my sculptures. It’s a reflection on the failure, humor, and sincerity that comes with being an artist. It’s the reach for “artistic greatness” but continuously coming up short and falling on your face that’s a recurring theme. There are references to art history, pop culture, sports, labor and my own personal history in the work.
The sterotype of a starving artist scares away many potentially talented artists from pursuing art – any advice or thoughts about how to deal with the financial concerns an aspiring artist might be concerned about?
Create a healthy balance between your studio and personal life and find ways to keep the studio financially solvent.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
www.ericstefanski.com
I am in a show opening next month May 18th at Co-Prosperity sphere. “Broken Dreams” curated by Stano Grezdo. Also, I have a few scheduled studio visits coming up with some curators for exhibitions later this year.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ericstefanski.com
- Email: ericstefanski@gmail.com
- Instagram: ericstefanski
Image Credit:
Sculptures and Paintings
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