The art of healing
Art can be a lot of different things to people. For some it serves as a creative hobby. While for others it is a way to communicate complex ideas or used as a tool to hold a mirror up to society. For artist Nova Czarnecki it means many things, but above all else it is a way to find healing. During a visit to her home studio in Milwaukee she explained how she discovered the joy of painting and the power it has both spiritually and emotionally.
“What I found is that when you go through life you carry memories in your body, especially like unresolved trauma, and those memories get stuck,” Czarnecki explained. “I have always liked painting figures. One time I was painting a figure of a woman and I decided I was going to work through some of my own stuff, so I decided to start adding pieces of nature to replace parts of the body, to literally replace the trauma with the power and beauty of nature. This is how painting evolved into this healing type of prayer for me.”
Growing up in a large, working-class family was not always easy for a young girl with a vivid imagination and creative spirit. But at the age of ten, Czarnecki found a set of tiny oil paints and was forever hooked.
“I didn’t even have any paintbrushes,” Czarnecki remembered. “I found a magazine picture of a poppy field and I just tried to paint it with the tubes. The red was so wrong, and I was so frustrated, but I was also intrigued. I just had to learn how to do it.”
So, she immersed herself in books about painting. Drawn to the Renaissance artists Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, she spent countless hours studying their works and practicing with oil paints.
“I will always associate oil paint with the masters,” Czarnecki shared. “I read their biographies and tried to copy their work. I just loved everything about it. The creaminess. The smell. The turpentine. It was all just fantastic.”
The two pieces she has on display in Baird Center fuse the classic look and texture you can only get from oil paints with her unique interpretation of the human spirit and its communion with the natural world. The Great Unthawing depicts a young man walking through a Wisconsin woods as the state transitions from winter into spring, while Honeyed shows a woman being embraced by nature as summer turns to autumn.
More likely to be embarrassed by compliments about her work and with a tendency to deflect any flattery, Czarnecki heaped praise on the other artists featured in Baird Center.
“It was such an honor to be included in the Baird Center project,” Czarnecki said. “I was looking up the other artists and they really do good work. To be a part of that community and of this gorgeous building, it is such a joy. Every second of it has been joy.”
Honeyed and The Great Unthawing are part of the We Energies Foundation Art Collection located at Baird Center. Nova Czarnecki is one of the thirty-three artists, most from Milwaukee, Wisconsin or with special ties to the area who have works featured in the collection. You can discover more about the artists and their works at https://bairdcenter.com/art-collection/.