Artist Paula Bullwinkel
What are you presently inspired by?
I am inspired by contemporary East German painter Neo Rauch’s art. I like his compositions of busy dynamic areas balanced with calm space, his mysterious allegorical quality, and the sheer epic-ness of his imagery. I am also influenced by Marc Chagall. I love the sense of disequilibrium in his art. Those storyteller-painters have a different story to communicate than I do, but I enjoy the diversity of imagery, the mystery, and the colors. In another way, I am inspired to respond to the growing power of guns and violence in our world, and how it affects women and girls in particular. It is nearly surreal the conversation on this topic that is happening in American and my art seems compelled to reflect it.
Is there something you are currently working on, or are excited about starting?
I am currently working on several projects that I love, but they do relate to one another quite closely. I like to work on several things so I can rotate through them over time. I am doing large scale etchings, which are drawings etched into a metal plate, then inked and hand printed. Also I am working through a large diptych oil painting with Frankenstein monsters and lions, which is strangely joyful. I started fabric design recently, based on my drawings, linotypes and paintings. Lastly, I am finishing a project that has been over a year in the making, a book of a series of narrative photographs for adults that is the story of an Odyssey of a unicorn-girl and her crow-sister. Eventually some of these images I will use in prints or paintings.
What is your greatest strength?
I think my greatest strength is my ability to concentrate and focus when needed. Art requires this, or I feel doomed to mediocrity. My other strength is to be able to move on when necessary. Nothing is too precious.
Describe a quality have you retained since childhood?
A sense of awe! A willingness to laugh quickly at stupid stuff! I like that I can still get excited by a dog’s smile, or a lovely brownie in a nicely lit bakery.
Words to live by . . . a favorite quote or motto?
The best words to live by for me would be:
“Carpe diem!” (“seize the day”)
“The works must be conceived with fire in the soul but executed with clinical coolness”(Joan Miro).
Artist Paula Bullwinkel is a featured in our current exhibition, Creatures-real and imagined.