Krzysztof "Chris" Polaczenko, born in 1987 in Świdnica, Poland, is a versatile artist who seamlessly blends various techniques in his works, including acrylic paint, oil paint, and aquarelle colored pencils. Drawing inspiration from keen observations of the world around him, Polaczenko's creations reflect a deep connection to the human experience and the intricacies of existence. Beyond his prowess as a painter, he is also an accomplished writer and multi-instrumentalist musician, further enriching his artistic repertoire.
J: Could you paint a vivid portrait of yourself and your artistic journey? Even if
you've only been creating briefly or in a new genre or material.
C: The beginning of my creative journey dates back to early childhood. Setting myself apart from my peers, I would choose the world of imagination. While exploring the available media or techniques I wanted to draw, write and play. Although my artistic journey was long and twisty, full of dead ends and stumbling blocks, I would introduce it with an energetic splash of paint and details highlighted by my fingers. Love of the craft is the main driving factor of my art, while being like meditation and addiction at the same time.
The metamorphosis of an Artist is a captivating narrative. How would you narrate your evolution into the Artist we see today?
Art became my main interest, language that give me true love and explanation of all. I’ve evolved from a lost kid looking for his place in the adult world, a kid who painfully found out how difficult it is to function without creating, that's why passion became the main focus of my life. I want to use my time fully and create as many great things as possible.
Harvest
Within the realm of artistic creation, what tools do you wield to conjure your work?
Learning techniques through experimentation with oils, acrylics, pastels, obsession about details, pencils, and ball point pens lead me to the conclusion that acrylics and details are my favourite painting tools. I use paint with lacquers instead of water, and propylene glycol as a retarder, which allows me to create multiple thin layers. I also add some water- mixable oils, but my paintings are mainly acrylics now. Understanding the craft allows me to go further in the search of the new inspirations. To this day the most important thing is to find the same simple emotion I had as a kid and have fun while exploring the reality in
surreal way. Bending canvas, making splatters or using non-artistic tools in the beginning of the painting process gives me now the biggest joy. In the end happy accidents are the most inspiring to me.
The arcane, the mystical, the macabre—how do these elements weave into the
fabric of your creations, if at all?
Horror and myths give me an endless source of inspirations and artistic drive. Slavic demons and witches are huge part of my latest book “Bear, me voice” (“Mniedźwiedzi głos”), where supernatural events and creatures became metaphors for human fears and issues. While painting, writing novels and playing music I always search for contrasts, build-ups, highs and lows. I want to show tension and make the viewer feel disturbed. Strange, unearthly vibe and atmosphere is very present in my work.
Define the essence of Dark Art from your perspective.
Bad dreams, true nightmares and tragedies move us more than joyful hours, this is why dark realm has such huge impact on art. Grabbing those moments with an eye of a camera, brush stroke or a poem is the essence of dark art. Unpleasant feeling of sick excitement that runs chills down our spines is what we're asking for.
The Root
Past masters have cast long shadows on the path of artistic inspiration. Whose
spectral influence is shown in your current artistic expressions?
The list goes on and on from a weird visions of Heronimus Bosh and Gustav Dore, through Caravaggio, Rubens or Dutch master of light Vermeer and ghotic Caspar Friedrich to modern masters of realism and surrealism like Gottfried Helnwein, Zdzisław Beksiński, Jeremy Geddes, Jacek Yerka, Tjalf Sparnaay, Andrzej Olczyk, H.R. Giger, Tomasz Alen Kopera, Laurie Lipton and many more. Each one of them inspires me in the different way. Circle of my visual interest goes far beyond painting world into photography, films,
animation, sculpture, architecture and simply looking around. I crave emotions and mood needed for an artwork, listening to different types of music or watching films and TV series which gives me that vibe.
As we navigate the dim corridors of contemporary art, could you spotlight three
artists whose work beckons the attention of our audience?
Beksiński, Guilermo del Torro, Gottfried Helnwein or Olivier de Sagazan I am not sure, there are so many. Those grab my attention every time.
What is sage advice for Artists today creating in the darker themes? Do you feel the need for community in the Dark Arts?
The same advice that fits artist in every genre, find your own style. We need community of creators to exchange experiences and ideas. Even while exploring the internet in the search for interesting art I feel as a part of the painting world. Artists understand each other, because we choose similar lifestyle and path.
Where can our readers unveil your artistry in the online realm?
On darkartandcraft.com, polaczenko.pl, www.instagram.com/krzysztof_polaczenko,
www.facebook.com/polaczenko and deviantart.com/13pavel.
Krzysztof Polaczenko
Artist Bio: Chris Polaczenko - born on January 15, 1987 in Świdnica, Poland, has been involved in painting, music and writing since a young age. He participated in many author meetings, solo and group exhibitions, recorded 8 albums of ambient music under the pseudonym horiso and published two books.
The themes of his paintings derive directly from his observations of the world around us, depicting reality in a surrealistic way. In the past, he often combined several different artistic techniques in a single work like acrylics, inks and coloured pencils. He is focused on a fine detail and the long durability of works. Chris' paintings can be found in Polish and foreign collections, while his emotions remain fixed in paint, sound and the written word.
polaczenko.pl
facebook.com/polaczenko
instagram.com/krzysztof_polaczenko/
