Perth based artist Waldemar Kolbusz creates non-representational paintings that resound with vibrant colour and pulsate with a particular form of abstract energy. Through his gestural mark-making and energetic application of paint, Kolbusz generates an expressive sense of immediacy in his work. Utilising the varied textural and aesthetic possibilities available in his chosen medium of oil paint, such as dribbling lines, hard edges, visible brushstrokes and the occasional presence of aerosol spray techniques, Kolbusz allows his compositions to develop from his intuitive engagement with the act of painting itself. The resulting works which resonate with vibrant colour and an organic sense of aesthetic balance, arouse a powerful emotive response in the viewer.
After resigning from being an accountant in 1997 and travelling for a year, Kolbusz ended up driving alone in the deserts of Arizona and Nevada between Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon.
This experience, along with inspired meetings and art in Portugal, New York and Tokyo that same year, lead to a monumental shift of thinking for him - from formula and exactness to freeness and expression. This new charge took hold not only on his ideas of career and life but most specifically about how he could practice his art.
This is where his ‘Freeway’ series of work began, and continues.
"I am interested in painting for the painting’s sake itself – abandoning previous representational work and it’s ideas and focusing only on colour and shape, responding to marks as they appear on my canvas. I try to generate an original awareness of colour, something which saturates our existence.
"My work is not planned, there are no preliminary sketches. I try not to anticipate the end result which in reality, is a difficult and often precarious task. After a few spontaneous, gestural brushstrokes to christen the canvas, I leave it and come back after a few days. Up on the easel I consider the work more intently, always hoping to be surprised and challenged by the marks there."
"I am increasingly experiencing my work as a viewer and less as a creator, and as a result have noticed a new energy and force in it. In my experience, an easily achieved painting is rarely character-filled. A piece with history always has things to squint at beneath the layers. I want to be surprised and excited by the piece when it is finished. I want the work to live on... sort of like a song that slowly becomes a favourite as opposed to a hit that is instantly loved and soon forgotten." Waldemar Kolubsz
Kolbusz’ work is represented in major national and international corporate collections including Clayton Utz (Perth), Four Seasons Hotel (Macau), Singapore Technologies (Singapore) amongst others. He has developed an impressive exhibition history and exhibits in New York, Hong Kong, Singapore and within Australia.
