When Joanna Salska paints a portrait she uses her artistic vision to scan the layers between the subject and society the core self and the constructed self… what she calls the “anxious masquerade”. She strives to record what she finds in the visual space between a person–shaped by life experience and absurd social conventions–and identity labelling. Salska uses doll’s heads damaged masks and models in stage make-up to help reveal the frightening moment when the true self of unmediated human need emerges from the false self of social expectations. She sees her work as a psychological excavation bringing to light the frightened children that are buried under the assumptions of adult confidence.
Joanna Salska grew up in Poland and received a Master of Fine Arts from Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts. She has had many exhibitions in Europe and USA and her paintings are in private corporate and museum collections Beijing National Museum among many others. She has twice been invited to participate in Beijing Biennale and has been honored with many residencies including Yaddo Foundation. She is living in Berkeley with her husband and daughter.
She also works under the pseudonym Uba Owl.
SPECIAL EVENTS:
Artist Talk and Reception: Saturday March 8 4-6pm
Oakland Art Murmur First Friday: Mar 7 6-9pm
Oakland Art Murmur First Friday: April 4 6-9pm
Third Thursday: Mar 20 6-8pm