Patrick Strzelec's interests stretch beyond the limits imposed by a preferred medium. His practice highlights that he is an inquisitive maker. He demonstrates a unique vision where form is playfully considered. Both his drawings and sculptures give the impression of a spontaneous captured moment. In this feature we observe the progression of lines drawn on a flat surface to work in open space.
Ambit: It is interesting seeing your drawings next to your sculptures. There are similarities between them: marks and gestures appear spontaneous and energetic. Did you approach the drawings as plans for the sculptures?
Patrick Strzelec: I do not approach the drawings as plans for sculptures. I rely on the drawings to develop ideas. I try to be guided by impulses and being intuitive. I do not depict observed reality, but create a world which is not immediately apparent. I have free license with drawing since they do not have to be realised into anything physical as sculpture does. I think through drawing.
Ambit: What is your relationship to lines and squiggles? They are a common thread in your 2D and 3D works.
P.S: I like the word squiggles. I guess that the squiggles are a type of reaction to or realisation of something gone astray. Squiggles are a fleeting thought, a quick reaction, a circumstance that occurred without a deliberate choice. They are the idea that started but did not know where to go or how to end.
Ambit: In your sculptural works you use a wide range of materials - aluminium, ceramic, epoxy, steel, and wood - can you talk to us about your processes and how they lend themselves to what you are trying to achieve?
P.S: I like to use materials that I'm not familiar with because they often yield surprising and interesting results. The materials can add their own context to the work. I prefer to let the viewer make his or her own interpretation of the work. I know that a lot of my sculptures are ambiguous.
Ambit: We are curious about a new sculpture of yours, feeder, (2015). It bears unusual figurative properties - something that is not immediately obvious in some of your other works. Can you tell us some more about this work?
P.S: I think a lot of the work refers to the figure, the body or the relationship to a thought. Some of my sculptures are more referential to the form. feeder is a form that suggests how someone or something can stabilise or give nourishment, life, or security in a mess of uncertainty, instability, and doubtfulness. It conveys structure as a cornerstone, but is still not fully in control.