john koleszar

About me:

While I have experimented with many forms of art, stenciling has provided me with the technical challenge that most suits my interest. Stencils are formed by removing sections from template material in the form of text or an image. This creates what is essentially a physical negative, and each negative represents a different color to be used in the painting. My process starts by breaking down an image into colors and layers, then spending hundreds of hours cutting out sections by hand with a razor blade. The finished stencils are then sprayed with spray paint on to a canvas or wall. When I combine all of the different colored stencils on top of each other, what I am left with is a finished piece. Imagery plays an important role in my work as well. While I often like portraits and subjects of pop culture, I also have a love for the various cityscapes that I have been fortunate enough to visit in my life. With my focus on imagery and technique, I hope to help propel the art of stenciling to the point where it can be critically appreciated and respected along side other fine art mediums. While currently there is a surge in the popularity of stenciling, I feel that it has a long way to go to be thought of as a serious art form. I am constantly pushing the boundaries of what i think can be done. I experiment with things like color, detail and scale to challenge preconceptions of what can be accomplished with stenciling. Check out the new BLOG