To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else. Emily Dickenson

2022 solo exhibition
PUZZLING POSSIBILITIES
This all began because of a well-meaning adventure to the toy store, little did I know it would end in a moment of desperation as I realized the pandemic is stripping society of aesthetic possibilities. Everywhere I went the puzzles I found were all insipid, mass-produced, and recycled images. Faced with this deadening sameness, I was inspired to transform each sterile mass-produced puzzle into a unique, one-of-a-kind painting that reflected stories from the past year.
To create this body of work, I brought all those kittens, cottages, and fruit slices home, and endured piecing them together. Painting directly on top of each one, I transformed them into original artworks inspired by recent stories and moments. Some of the puzzles were trimmed here and there to fit together better, some I divided the pieces between two different puzzles, and some I combined multiple puzzles together to make one piece. These puzzles are all functional, they can be framed or taken apart and put back together -- some can even be put back together in multiple ways.
This body of new work is my rallying cry -- no more kittens in baskets, no more cottages in the woods, no more patterns of fruit slices delivered to doorsteps overnight. You deserve better. Take the pieces available to you, put them together in a new way, and rediscover how delicious it is to engage all of your senses. Begin to imagine what you want the world to be rather than what is available via mass consumption.
I am so happy you are here and we can share these PUZZLING POSSIBILITIES.

acrylic on puzzle pieces / 13" x 10" / copyright Žanetka K. Gawronski. All rights reserved.

acrylic on leftover puzzle pieces / 6" x 6" / copyright Žanetka K. Gawronski. All rights reserved.

acrylic on three puzzles, combined, accidentally dropped, and put back together into a new story / 14" x 13" / copyright Žanetka K. Gawronski. All rights reserved.

acrylic on puzzle pieces / 9" x 10" / copyright Žanetka K. Gawronski. All rights reserved.

acrylic on puzzle pieces / 13" x 19" / copyright Žanetka K. Gawronski. All rights reserved.

acrylic on puzzle pieces / 14" x 20" / copyright Žanetka K. Gawronski. All rights reserved.

acrylic on puzzle pieces / 18" x 18" / copyright Žanetka K. Gawronski. All rights reserved.

acrylic on puzzle pieces / 13" x 19" / copyright Žanetka K. Gawronski. All rights reserved.

acrylic on puzzle pieces, two different puzzles combined into one diptych / 5" x 14" / copyright Žanetka K. Gawronski. All rights reserved.

acrylic on puzzle pieces / 18" x 18" / copyright Žanetka K. Gawronski. All rights reserved.

acrylic on puzzle pieces / 15" x 21" / copyright Žanetka K. Gawronski. All rights reserved.

acrylic on puzzle pieces / 13" x 10" / copyright Žanetka K. Gawronski. All rights reserved.

acrylic on trimmed puzzle pieces / 18" x 15" / copyright Žanetka K. Gawronski. All rights reserved.