Plane on Sea Bed Oil on canvas • 41" x 48"

Lessons in Walking on Water Oil and resin on canvas • 23" x 38"

Helping You Decide with Metal Balloons Oil and resin on canvas • 60" x 72"

Internal Dissention Oil on canvas • 70" x 60"

Internal Dissention (detail) Oil on canvas • 70" x 60"

She Was Gone a Long Time Ago Oil on canvas • 66" x 84"

The Daughter's Three Personalities Oil on canvas • 62" x 54"

WORKS SOLD

About the Artist

Lennon Michalski's work has been shown internationally in group shows in Mexico, Columbia, and China. He also participates with a number of nonprofit art organizations in the Lexington area. Lennon is involved with the group Downswing Production which is interested in networking artists together to create collaborative projects. Michalski earned his Master of Fine Arts degree in Painting and Digital Media from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He now is an Instructor in the College of Art at University of Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky University. The artist now lives and works in Lexington.

Website: www.lennonmichalski.com

Artist's Statement

My work examines the conflicts encountered when children grow up without nurture. Can healthy mental awareness evolve without constructive, embracing, and caring guidance? Growth without nurture breaks the sense of unity and enforces separation. Uneven distribution of informative guidance results in mental conflicts that shape identity.
I investigate these qualities in the collision of animals, such as birds, cats, and fish, with the realm of abstract machines, animal tendencies, and mechanical repetitions. These characters have over developed qualities as a result of a nurtureless evolution. The lack of guidance is expressed through the struggle of interaction and leads to clumsy outcomes. These characters attempt to interact in spaces that mirror pleasant aquatic passages but have an eerie resemblance to an uncouth industrial domain. I use perspective and color in patterns to present emotional exchange between the illustrations. During application I am greatly influenced by my marks and work intuitively with the conversations discovered. The dialog between the marks I make and the new directions they suggest continues through numerous layers. This work narrates the emotional struggle of growing up without nurture, and how this informs a crude and frightening walk towards maturity.

Lennon Michalski, 2010