Contemporary artist Ewa Prończuk-Kuziak is telling us that happiness is an achievable state in her latest rainbow-coloured series of oil paintings that combine still life, nature and fantasy.
With intensely saturated colours and a whole dose of contrast, her works in Happiness is Easy feature vibrant animals that are made of materials as if woven out of thread and decorative fabrics.
"Happiness is a very subjective concept and on the individual level, is often extremely difficult to reach despite being the most important and crucial need for all mankind," says Ewa. "People can try to reach it for all their lives and find it in the most unexpected or strange places, situations, people, or moments.
"Would happiness be finding peace or balance in places or in a person which we thought of as a threat? Would we experience happiness if we simply let go, slow down, and step down without a feeling of regret? Maybe, happiness is allowing oneself to experience extreme emotions and not being embarrassed by them."
She adds: "Happiness, in my opinion, is dancing, laughing, silence, and freedom. It often happens when you pull yourself together after loss, tragedy, and difficult moments, giving yourself time to withdraw from your social life and observe in silence. Happiness is allowing yourself to experience fear, and courage, stepping outside the comfort zone. It is carelessness, ease, self-control, and harmony. For years, poets, artists, philosophers, and scientists dealt with these concepts: tried to describe it and find its source. Still, there is no single definition and that's the beauty of it. I simply gather stories, process them into surreal paintings, and let them live on."
Happiness is Easy is to go on show at the Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles, CA.
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