Parking Lot Bonsai
Carolyn Swiszcz (b. 1972) is renowned for her uncanny, yet affectionate landscapes and building exteriors, employing a wide range of printmaking techniques, vibrant colors, and distinctive patterns. She derives inspiration from quirky features of buildings, parks, signs and banners, window displays, and distinctive trees. Swizcz says, “I’m drawn to the textures and backstories (real and imagined) found in the image-scape of my daily travels. The buildings and trees in my work tug at my heartstrings because they’re holding ground (for now) amidst a world that is changing around them.” Swiszcz is fond of the sometimes-unpredictable nature of printmaking, meticulously devising the stencils, stamps, and monoprint processes that make her images pop with delightful surprises.
Swiszcz’s everyday subjects evoke the work of American artists like Charles Demuth and Charles Sheeler, who in the 1920s-30s simplified man-made structures accentuating their form and depth while experimenting with light and color. In her images, Swiszcz blends layers of abstraction and randomness with figurative elements including letters and geometric patterns, creating a sense of otherworldliness. Her latest work revels in off-kilter multicultural elements in Midwest suburbia, i.e. her “Parking Lot Bonsai” (2023), which features neatly arranged silhouettes of miniature trees in a Burger King parking lot.
Carolyn Swiszcz was born and raised in New Bedford, MA, and earned a BFA in printmaking from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 1994. While on a fellowship in the 1990’s, she was inspired by Miami’s rapidly changing cityscape and began to use techniques that now pervade her work. Swiszcz's prints have been exhibited at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Highpoint Center for Printmaking in Minneapolis, Steven Zevitas Gallery in Boston, and published by Highpoint Editions in Minneapolis. She is the recipient of the Jerome, Bush, Minnesota State Arts Board artist fellowships and a 2023 McKnight Foundation Printmaking Fellowship.
Carolyn Swiszcz (b. 1972) was born and raised in New Bedford, MA, and earned a BFA in printmaking from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 1994. She is the recipient of the Jerome, Bush, Minnesota State Arts Board artist fellowships and a 2023 McKnight Foundation Printmaking Fellowship.
Swiszcz’s everyday subjects evoke the work of American artists like Charles Demuth and Charles Sheeler, who in the 1920s-30s simplified man-made structures accentuating their form and depth while experimenting with light and color. In her images, Swiszcz blends layers of abstraction and randomness with figurative elements including letters and geometric patterns, creating a sense of otherworldliness. Her latest work revels in off-kilter multicultural elements in Midwest suburbia, i.e. her “Parking Lot Bonsai” (2023), which features neatly arranged silhouettes of miniature trees in a Burger King parking lot.
Carolyn Swiszcz was born and raised in New Bedford, MA, and earned a BFA in printmaking from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 1994. While on a fellowship in the 1990’s, she was inspired by Miami’s rapidly changing cityscape and began to use techniques that now pervade her work. Swiszcz's prints have been exhibited at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Highpoint Center for Printmaking in Minneapolis, Steven Zevitas Gallery in Boston, and published by Highpoint Editions in Minneapolis. She is the recipient of the Jerome, Bush, Minnesota State Arts Board artist fellowships and a 2023 McKnight Foundation Printmaking Fellowship.
Carolyn Swiszcz (b. 1972) was born and raised in New Bedford, MA, and earned a BFA in printmaking from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 1994. She is the recipient of the Jerome, Bush, Minnesota State Arts Board artist fellowships and a 2023 McKnight Foundation Printmaking Fellowship.
