Painting > Mirrors-- 2016-2018

Gwendolyn Zabicki, Gwen Zabicki, painter, Chicago artist, Zabicki
oil on canvas
28 x 21 inches
2017
Gwendolyn Zabicki, Gwen Zabicki, painter, Chicago artist, Zabicki
oil on canvas
48 x 32 inches
2017
Gwendolyn Zabicki, Gwen Zabicki, painter, Chicago artist, Zabicki
oil on canvas
46 x 36 inches
2017
Gwendolyn Zabicki, Gwen Zabicki, painter, Chicago artist, Zabicki
oil on canvas
36 x 32 inches
2017
Gwendolyn Zabicki, Gwen Zabicki, painter, artist, Chicago, mirror paintings
oil on canvas in a mirrored room with additional mirrors
22 x 31 inches
2018
Gwendolyn Zabicki, Gwen Zabicki, painter, Chicago artist, Zabicki
oil on canvas
22 x 31 inches
2017
Gwendolyn Zabicki, painter, Chicago, Chicago artist, Gwen Zabicki, Gwen Zabicki mirror, Gwen Zabicki painting
oil on canvas in a mirrored room
17 x 15 inches
2018
Gwendolyn Zabicki, Gwen Zabicki, painter, artist, Chicago, mirror paintings
oil on canvas
17 x 15 inches
2018
Gwendolyn Zabicki, Gwen Zabicki, painter, artist, Chicago, mirror paintings
oil on canvas in a mirrored room with additional mirror
40 x 36 inches
2018
Open Door and Mirror
oil on canvas in a mirrored room
15 x 17 inches
2018
Gwendolyn Zabicki, Gwen Zabicki, painter, Chicago artist, Zabicki
oil on canvas
48 x 16 inches
2017
Gwendolyn Zabicki, Gwen Zabicki, painter, Chicago artist, Zabicki
oil on canvas, mirror
48 x 16 inches
2019
Gwendolyn Zabicki, Gwen Zabicki, Gwendolyn Zabicki Chicago, Gwen Zabicki artist, Gwendolyn Zabicki, artist, Gwendolyn Zabicki painter, Gwen Zabicki painter
oil on canvas
36 x 24 inches
2018
Dark Nested Mirrors
oil on canvas
36 x 40 inches
2018
Gwendolyn Zabicki, Gwen Zabicki, Gwendolyn Zabicki Chicago, Gwen Zabicki artist, Gwendolyn Zabicki, artist, Gwendolyn Zabicki painter, Gwen Zabicki painter
oil on canvas
36 x 30 inches
2018
Gwendolyn Zabicki, Gwen Zabicki, Gwendolyn Zabicki Chicago, Gwen Zabicki artist, Gwendolyn Zabicki, artist, Gwendolyn Zabicki painter, Gwen Zabicki painter
oil on canvas
30 x 24 inches
2018
Mirror with Yellow Chair
oil on canvas
38 x 34 inches
2018
Gwendolyn Zabicki, Gwen Zabicki, painting, artist, Chicago
oil on canvas
22 x 16 inches
2018
Gwendolyn Zabicki, Gwen Zabicki, painter, Chicago artist, Zabicki
oil on canvas
15 x 22 inches
2017
Gwendolyn Zabicki, Gwen Zabicki, painter, Chicago artist,
oil on canvas
32in x 48in
2016
Gwendolyn Zabicki, Gwen Zabicki, painter, Chicago artist,
oil on canvas
22in x 15in
2016
Gwendolyn Zabicki, Gwen Zabicki, painter, Chicago artist, Zabicki
oil on canvas
22in x 31in
2017
Gwendolyn Zabicki, Gwen Zabicki, Gwendolyn Zabicki painting, Gwen Zabicki painting, Gwen Zabicki art, Gwendolyn Zabicki art, Gwen Zabicki artist, Gwen Zabicki artist, Gwen Zabicki Chicago, Gwendolyn Zabicki Chicago
oil on canvas
20in x 36in
2016
Gwendolyn Zabicki, Gwen Zabicki, Gwendolyn Zabicki painting, Gwen Zabicki painting, Gwen Zabicki art, Gwendolyn Zabicki art, Gwen Zabicki artist, Gwen Zabicki artist, Gwen Zabicki Chicago, Gwendolyn Zabicki Chicago
oil on canvas
16in x 20in
2016

When systems function well, we hardly notice them, but when they break they become visible. For example, our bodies work continuously to maintain homeostasis, but when we become ill we become aware of all that invisible effort, of how good we used to feel. Mirrors become more visible when they are dirty or dripping with streaks of glass cleaner, when the mirror is not functioning how a mirror is supposed to function. To make a painting of a mirror is an attempt to paint the unseen and unnoticed. It is an exercise in looking and an attempt at real awareness.

In these paintings, a window is reflected in the mirror. A window is another framing device, another object that is hard to see. We are compelled to look out a window, even if the view is not picturesque. Schopenhauer wrote that when we look through a window that view lets us forget our striving for a moment. The window is a respite from the struggle to see, and makes the environment comprehensible.

Recently, I have begun to show these paintings in a mirrored room, transforming the room into a reflective, perhaps even disorienting space. My hope is that this transformed space will cause viewers to see the room and the paintings with fresh eyes. I expect that over time, with viewers walking on the mirrored floor, it will become scratched or covered in footprints spotlighting the cleaning tasks that originally inspired this work.

These mirror paintings come from of a larger series about cleaning. They deal with surface-- streaky wet mirrors, glassy windows, and sun-streaked floors. They also reflect what is just beneath that surface-- that women give thousands of hours of unseen physical and emotional labor to the people around them. Learning to paint is about learning to see-- to notice the hue, saturation, and value of the objects around us. But I would add that painting is also about learning to acknowledge these things that are right in front of us and to care about them.