Paul Chojnowski

Woodland Lake

2019

I have been burning images into wood and paper as a means of drawing for over two decades. During that time I have continued to refine and at the same time experiment with the process. Using propane torches I burn, scorch, re-burn, sand and scratch the surface of paper or wood to create my drawings. My earlier work, the Nocturne Series was inspired by walking at night in the light filled streets of American cities; those drawings were often mistaken for soft focus sepia toned photographs. My present work is a considerable departure in regard to content, execution and appearance - from those dark, abstracted cityscapes, my current drawings are light filled, clearly rendered landscapes. The burning process I use to make my drawings evolved differently for each series. Experimentation (in both bodies of work) is always important to me and always informs the resulting image. In the case of the Nocturnes the image arose from intermixing water with the flame from a large industrial torch. With these new works, I’ve tried to create a visually stimulating accumulation of (often minuscule) marks on the wood surface using the tiny flame from a jeweler’s torch...

I have been burning images into wood and paper as a means of drawing for over two decades. During that time I have continued to refine and at the same time experiment with the process. Using propane torches I burn, scorch, re-burn, sand and scratch the surface of paper or wood to create my drawings. My earlier work, the Nocturne Series was inspired by walking at night in the light filled streets of American cities; those drawings were often mistaken for soft focus sepia toned photographs. My present work is a considerable departure in regard to content, execution and appearance - from those dark, abstracted cityscapes, my current drawings are light filled, clearly rendered landscapes. The burning process I use to make my drawings evolved differently for each series. Experimentation (in both bodies of work) is always important to me and always informs the resulting image. In the case of the Nocturnes the image arose from intermixing water with the flame from a large industrial torch. With these new works, I’ve tried to create a visually stimulating accumulation of (often minuscule) marks on the wood surface using the tiny flame from a jeweler’s torch...

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