ARCHEOLOGY - TEMPERA - 70 X 100 CM

Painter Sowicki tells about his life and art:

I was born in the heat of the strange August of 1948. What a wonderful year for me; the twelfth, Leo in the sun. Was it an omen? Warsaw was full of rubble, banners and theatre. I was never far away from the arts. In 1966 the happy era of childhood and adolescence was over. I became an heir and landowner and proud freshman student of the famous and Ancient Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. What explosive years! All the freedom, no money and everything open for me. I met the great master Jonasz Stern – pity I was too young and wild to listen to his words of wisdom. I said farewell to Krakow in the playful year 1968. Returning to Warsaw, the graphic department seemed to be the logical choice. Entering the domain of printmaking meant more and more studies and experiments to achieve goal, which was so far away, resembling the Holy Grail. I was awarded the Masters of Arts degree with additional diploma. The collection of strange machines cans and bottles of poisonous chemicals were my companions. In 1973 I became a “full-fledged” artist and a member of Artists Union. Doesn’t it sound like being a certified midwife or monster? It took some years to learn what the colour intaglio really is. It is the separate reality where everything is possible and magically you can multiply it. In 1984 I dared to teach. The old Academy. Great. As the years went by I found myself to be a sort of misfit in the “institution”; Good-bye steady job. And all the things that were my favourite pastimes are, not necessarily in this order: church murals, tarot, student theatre, lectures, paintings, marriages, Chinese masters, drawings, music, photography, kids and love. The cats are always around me. I learn a lot from them: how to preserve natural wild ideas, predator’s instincts, clarity and tranquillity. I live in Warsaw. Jacek