Jerry Svoboda

The subject of my current work is nature in the urban environment. While it is valid to see the forces of nature and civilization in opposition, I'm drawn to the tenuous coexistence between them as it manifests in my immediate surroundings.

I'm interested in the tension between the tidy way my local park was designed and the unruly expressiveness of the trees there. Viewing the garages and alleyways near my studio, I've found an often overlooked intersection of nature and architecture. Little trees grow out from behind the dumpsters. Some of the garages are neglected and falling apart. I sometimes imagine the city falling into glorious ruin as in a nineteenth century landscape painting of ancient Rome. Those kind of pictures give a sense of the ultimate prevalence of nature. The Romantic painters delighted in the architecture of empire superseded by the pastoral idea.

As I've made my pictures, however, I'm not sure of the ultimate prevalence of nature in our time. I'm exploring nature's power in my work while questioning it's future form. I seek to contrast the traditional idealization of nature in art with my everyday urban experience.

Biography

I came to Chicago to study at the Art Institute and ended up working in the film industry here. Besides art, I create special effects gizmos for TV commercials on a freelance basis. I’ve been living in Chicago for ten years. I’ve been married to my beautiful wife Andrea for six years. Our daughter, Veronica, just turned one in March.

Printmaking

Although most of my formal study has been in painting, I’ve been printmaking intensely for the past few years. I’ve found that the structured methodology of making plates has challenged my vision and imagination in new ways.

One of the unique things about etching with aquatint is that as I get closer to seeing the first proof the overall image becomes more and more obscured by etching ground. In other words, as I’m working through the steps to ultimately define the image, the plate is increasingly obscured and mysterious. I adore etching with aquatint for this reason. The first proof of a plate is an experience rich with surprise and recollection for me.

None of the plates are reworked after the aquatint is completed. I sometimes resolve a plate using chine colleè or by simply changing the wiping and/or ink viscosity. I’ve recently started painting on prints to resolve them. In these works, the print is a rich beginning and first mark for the painting.