1xRun Thru Interview
Her White Darkness by Audrey Pongracz
1xRUN: Tell us a bit about the nautical theme that is in this piece along with some of the others from your recent work, do you want to touch on why that has been an influence as of late?
Audrey Pongracz: The nautical thing really came about just from me thinking about how I’d like to be more still, in a easily accessible vast environment of freedom, to learn how to anchor myself, which in turn brought up images of the sea. I easily get caught up in the spaces in my mind, which in turn can make me very unavailable. Sometimes it feels like I’m gone, forever traveling in my own world, and I want to be easily and more available to the ones I care about, and learn how to strike a balance between both worlds.
1xRun: Tell us how the idea and execution came about?
Audrey Pongracz: This piece was created in February 2013 using oil on canvas. This piece came very easily, since I really feel this way most of the time. Her White Darkness is just about unintentional trouble. The girl is very upset by her unpredictable nature, in which has brought it’s heaviness and bad effect upon the two ships.
1xRun: How long did the piece take?
Audrey Pongracz: usually it takes about a month for me to finish a piece, if I work on it everyday.
1xRun: What is unique about this piece?
Audrey Pongracz: Well, I guess since I am still very much happy with the piece is unique I suppose! Usually with most pieces Im happy with the idea and the execution process, then once finished, Ill find many things I would want to do different. But Im still content with this one. Plus I got to paint little ships, which Ive been wanting to do for years but havent had the opportunity.
1xRun: Why should people buy this print?
Audrey Pongracz: If it makes them happy.
1xRun: Describe this print in one gut reaction word.
Audrey Pongracz: Sorrow.
1xRun: When did you first start making art? What was your first piece?
Audrey Pongracz: I started using oils at 13. My first piece was a terrible abstract of a rose. My mother has all my starting pieces hanging in her house, and whenever I’m there I have to look at them. They are a awful reminder of adolescence.
1xRun: What artists inspired you early on? What artists inspire you now?
Audrey Pongracz: Bob Ross kick started my desire to paint! I would watch his show when I came home from Kindergarten. I was too young to use “real” paint so I would try and paint along with him, using those Crayola watercolors or some crappy poster paint, it was very frustrating! Then in my teens, I bought the 4 Non Blondes album “Bigger, Better, Faster, More!” and I just thought the albums cover art was so rad! The style was very inspiring, but I never bothered to look and see who created it.
Years later I discovered Mark Ryden’s work, and saw he was responsible for creating the album cover art, and was also responsible for other album covers that I admired as well. So his work was a gateway for a whole new style of art that had a great effect on me. Right now I admire work from, Nicola Samori, Sam Wolfe Connelly, Brandi Milne, Ray Caesar, and I can always go to the old Masters, like Bouguereau and Rembrandt for inspiration.
1xRun: Do you listen to music while you work? If so what?
Audrey Pongracz: Always. As of late Ive been listening to a lot of Interpol, Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions, and The Innocence Mission. And Radiohead is always there.
1xRun: What was the first piece of art that you bought? Do you still have it? The last?
Audrey Pongracz: Aside from prints. I think the first original piece of work I bought was by a local artist Teresa Peterson. She does collage work that’s very whimsical and fun. It’s hanging in my studio right now. The last piece I bought was from another local artist, Ron Zakrin “Don’t Stop Believing'”.
1xRun: Bring us up to speed on what you’ve been up to since your last release?
Audrey Pongracz: Quietly painting. Winters are rough for me so, I stay pretty domestically snug.
1xRun: What else do you have in the works?
Audrey Pongracz: I am working on group shows, my first collaboration with a fellow oil painter Sarah Joncas, and working away on the 2 person show with Lora Zombie.
1xRun: Where else can people find you?
Audrey Pongracz: Website – Blog – Twitter – Tumblr – Instagram
-1xRUN