To see bio resume etc. Please visit http://caconline.org/gallery.asp?artist=Zsofia_S_Otvos Autobiography

I was born and raised in Budapest, Hungary where I received my formal studio training at Studio '91 lead by Rita Kopek in Budapest. In 1994, an art scholarship bought me to the United States to earn my BA degree in Art and Theater. During that time, I studied fiber art at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago; as a child, I learned tapestry weaving from my Mother, which is the basis of my relationship to and understanding of color, and its unique use in my work. I directed my focus to painting in 1999, ever since than I have been actively participating in the Chicago art world, my works have been exhibited here, and abroad in Hungary and Italy.

My relationship to theater manifested itself in makeup design; offering an opportunity of creating live characters. I have drawn a lot of inspiration from working with Catharine Sullivan’s projects and the Trapdoor Theater.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Artist’s Statement

My paintings are of people I observe and find movements and postures emerge that make a character, a distinction that seems to be part of a pattern I recognize. In my paintings, I am investigating the individuality, as my characters represent a type viewers can recognize as familiar. I have been painting the human figure with a focus on the female subject; as a woman, I am naturally more sensitive to the variety of circumstances of women’s existence. My early subject, representing internal emotions, expanded to the outer layers of self-expression, decisive choices we, as people make, now I am embracing details shown in clothing and body posture. My treatment of color evolved from my Gobelin tapestry weaving background. Like on the woven surface, I allow the individual colors to be seen by using palette knives, the colors mix in the process of painting.

I have been experimenting with involving the medium of the painting with the expression, especially in respect to the passing of time. This experimentation has led to painting on loosely woven linen, which, when it is stretched, has a screen-like effect. This lets the light through where it is not covered with thick paint. In this method I prime the linen under the figure, to symbolize that the figure instilled a definite image in my mind. At the same time, I also try to express that my visual memory may not be accurate and that the world surrounding us is always in a motion of change. Where the paint is thin or where I sketch with charcoal directly on the linen, the image is seen only if the background light source is not too bright. To allow for this in the viewing experience, the paintings are displayed in an environment where, there is a chance for the light to change.

Artist Highlights

• ArtWanted.com Gallery:    Fine Art
• Past Clients:    Private Collectors