Los Angeles, California (The Hollywood Times) 6/01/2021 – Patricia is an Award-winning International Contemporary Artist, Author, and Visionary. She is represented by the 13th Street Gallery in St. Catharines, Artworld Fine Art in Toronto, Ontario, FACEC International in France, and Paul Fisher Gallery in Florida. Patricia previously exhibited with BB International Fine Arts in Geneva, Berlin, Korea, Austria, and Zurich. In 2018, Patricia won the Gold Medal in Photography at the SNBA at the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris, France. ATIM (Art Tour International Magazine) named Patricia, Artist of the Year 2020. In 2019 she was awarded the Silver Medal in Photography and in 2021 she will receive the Pewter Medal in Painting from the Societe Academique Arts, Sciences, and Lettres in Paris, France. She is the recipient of the Apollo and Daphne International Award Biennal of Baroque Art Salentin from Italia in Arte Nel Mondo Associaziona Culturaie. “Now more than ever the artists of the world are so important,” Gagic said. “With shifts in every direction impacting our livelihood and spectrum of emotions, the truth is more evident in art.” Today, her painting Avalon’s Dream is hanging in a prestigious Zurich gallery, ArtBox. (She has previously exhibited with BB International Fine Arts in Switzerland with her work accepted to Art Fairs in Geneva, Berlin, France, Austria, Zurich, London UK and Seoul, Korea as well as being shown across North America.)
You have dedicated your career to mastering the palette and technique from the great French Master “Dragan Dragic” and the Matisse palette. Take us through the process.
The meeting with Dragic was pure serendipity. My husband was very interested in taking a trip to France… especially Provence. He was curious after reading the book “A Year in Provence” written by Peter Mayle. After months of searching for the perfect location, he settled on a place called La Begude de Mazenc. I ventured into Toronto to meet the owner of the home and pick up all the information, keys, directions, and books. The owner was a very eclectic art collector and offered me a tour of the home. I spotted a painting on the wall of a very beautiful, somewhat abstract white horse… the title was “Atila” and the artist was Dragan Dragic. I was informed he was in the top ten percentile of artists in Provence and lived about 3 hours away in Mt. Ventoux. That was the first little wiggle of my intuition telling me I should meet this artist. This was in 1999 and there was very little information available on the internet… yet I somehow felt it was destiny. We were able to organize a meeting with the artist in Savoillan, where he lived in a 5th-century village with his studio/atelier in the turret… I was shocked when I began to realize the depth of this man and his work. He had exhibited in several of the great galleries in Paris and France and was without a doubt a pure master. I was smitten with the idea of having one lesson from him. He acquiesced and invited me to return in October with more French under my belt. I hired a tutor for 38 hours of teachings and returned with some ability to communicate… he did not speak English. This was the beginning of our 22-year relationship. I traveled back and forth to France spending time with him and learning how to paint the Matisse palette enhanced by Dragic. In 2012 we exhibited together in Sault, France and it was a true highlight of my life.
Tell us about your painting, “Complex Simplicity.” What was your inspiration?
Motivated by the delicate balancing of elements of the past, choices made in the present, and a powerful intention to change the future, each thought and intuition become master to the emergence of form and method in my art-making. Complexity is a keyframe. The infinity of possible iterations of a form is a fascination intellectually and in terms of my method. It drives how I engage with materials in the search for what is luminous to the eye and transcendent in meaning to the heart. My art is intended to point to what is greater than the conventional and logic-based point-of-view. There is an appreciation of an engagement with the paradox of complexity, coupled with confidence in simplicity as its ultimate expression.
The under-painting is central to how this orientation shows up in the final works. In search for the luminous and transcendental, the under-painting is an investigative yet carefully orchestrated evolution of intentional layering in which I am immersed in a process of moving with a rich flow of contemplative and clairvoyant thought. In this movement, I press in on the mark-making with brush and paint, then stand apart from it, then press in again, and so on until the idea which wants to be noticed shows itself in relationship with my intention for an image. This process is deeply personal. It is intended to bridge to others in a way inviting them to participate in the images I make, such that well-being is magnified by an encounter with something opening them to the intuition of a greater Whole.
One of the influences on my artistic life and practice is the Transcendental Realist artist, Adi Da Samraj. He speaks about the function of art in a way that perfectly gives voice to my intention. He writes, “True Art heals, True Art restores equanimity. Art must regenerate the sense of well-being. That is its true purpose.” This regeneration of well-being is an overarching purpose in my method and is the context of an intellectual consideration around image-making. It is my experience that well-being resides as an already-present condition in the domain of the esoteric rather than exoteric world of things and strategies designed to make us feel better, or safe, or at ease. I try to stand on the magical horizon where the rules of nature and the mystical unknown find their way together from mind to hand to canvas in order to create conditions for well-being to be re-animated in the experience of the viewer. Additionally, the “Small Worlds” of Wassily Kandinsky (1922) further inspired my attraction to the complexity/simplicity paradox as the mathematics in his work harmonized aspects of my feeling of understanding and brought a joyful knowing or sense of something beyond the images themselves.
Additional influences include my long-time mentor and dear friend, Master Artist, Dragan Dragic who I was blessed to meet in France in 1999. His capacity as a technical genius understanding the Matisse palette with flawless precision only scratches the surface of his wisdom. Dragan triggered in me an appreciation of and engagement with the paradox of complexity coupled with a confidence in simplicity as its ultimate expression. In the ensuing years of our artful learnings together, he helped me to see the beauty of abstraction lies in the various underlying hypostases combining or being in a dynamic relationship in such a way as to become conscious to the viewer as a living process. As a group, those by whom I am influenced are practitioners of what I call “Complex Simplicity”. They further include Franz Kline; a brilliant man who eventually became a dynamic interpreter of boldness with monochromatic staging where black was equally as powerful as white and required careful fluid strength. The work of Adi Da Samraj informs my understanding of the need to perpetually embody the aesthetic experience as Reality Itself. There is a delicious struggle I engage in daily as I am drawn into what is “in-between” the phenomena, moments, ideas which arise and yet practice in the actual doings of the world in order to make visible what is found in those spaces. It is my adventure to capture more truth as an artist and be less of an ego and I sense the Ultimate Reality might be touched in the in-between spaces as both Truth and Egoless. I look to other artists for clues on how to enter- into these spaces more and more consistently as an artist. In the work of Paul Emile Bourduas, I found rhythm and seduction at the root of his process and all the in-between spaces functioning as necessary places of risk to effervescently touch those rhythms, to animate the seductions. The moments of this realization create a rich ocean of plankton, food for the work to be done.
What I continue to learn is how incredibly liberating it is to affirm and elevate emotion as the intent of a painting or photograph and to be fearless in approaching the image as a sovereign manifestation requiring my stand as one “getting to know” life, bringing forth clues for others, and trusting the process is the under-painting of the journey I have been given to fulfill.
Share your favorite paintings.
The piece which I really love …won the Gold Medal at the SNBA – Salon Nationale Beaux Arts in Paris at the Carrousel du Louvre in 2018. It is without a doubt my favorite… it is a photograph called The Path.
Another of my favorite pieces is called Avalon’s Dream.
Art Tour International Magazine named you, Artist of the Year 2020. How much did this mean to you?
The invitation to become Artist of the Year with ATIM was a blessing. I had participated in the Top 60 Masters and the founder and Editor Viviana Puello invited me to consider being the Artist of the Year. It was a great honor and has resulted in greater exposure and merit.
I was really excited to participate and had a fabulous response to the process. Unfortunately, due to COVID and all the closures and restrictions, the Award Ceremony which was to be held in Italy was postponed. I am hoping 2022 will bring people back together and the ceremonies will again be scheduled.
https://www.mediakit.art/patricia-karen-gagic-media-kit/.
Why do you think your works are resonating with people globally?
The world has been going through so many different political and environmental changes. I have always felt a sense of quietude in expressing my sadness or concerns, yet through art I have been able to blend the chaos and harmony together, suggestive of the narrow and humble path human beings meander through on a daily basis. The work generates a desire to draw upon our mystical interpretation of life and restructure our thoughts to widen the aura of mystery around our lives. Each piece is symbolic of the relationships we create between nature, spirit, and our penchant for truth. The alterations and sacrifices we sustain to achieve a symbiotic way of existing are often radical and disguised. Perhaps, this is revealed to guide the viewer into seeing their own esoteric mindscape which can reveal a deeper sense of belonging. The beauty of abstraction lies in the various underlying hypostases combining or being in a dynamic relationship that becomes conscious to the viewer as a living process. I believe people resonate with finding an understanding of the need to perpetually embody the aesthetic experience of reality itself.
What is your mantra?
As a student of life, my path has been deeply spiritual with a great need to believe life has a purpose. This has evolved into what I refer to as the Karmic Revolution. My values are aligned to Mystery, Wisdom, and Purification. 1. Understand that karma will not forget you. 2. Let go of misconceptions about karma being bad. 3. Work with karma to liberate yourself. 4. Allow the karma of abundance and well-being. 5. Seek out guidance from those who have walked the journey. There is a delicious struggle I engage in daily as I am drawn into what is “in-between” the phenomena, moments, ideas which arise, and yet practice in the actual doings of the world in order to make visible what is found in those spaces. Manifestation is a complicated word. Manifesting is agreeably important, and so are the steps to realization- in the world of Karma, we need to view the intention and motivation.
You are a champion for human rights. Share your initiatives.
Many years of supporting local community endeavors…and global. In 2006, the beginnings of an incredible journey took place in Cambodia. I have the story here: www.inspiredtoberewired.com… Project Cambodia…. You will be able to learn more there… also the short video here on YouTube.. A few years ago I also partnered with Serena Bufalino and we created www.HelpHealHumanity.org If you visit the site you will learn more about our projects in Haiti and Cambodia and the food programs we have established.. feeding the homeless in the encampments. We have received our 501C3 for the U.S. and now have a Board which is amazing!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG13EzXpZ5M
What is the Karmic Revolution?
I have taken the work of my karma and wisdom and created The Karmic Art Experience… here I will take people thru a journey from inside the mind and body to the blank canvas. Creating a thoughtful and meaningful experience enlightening you to unlock more of your hidden and untapped potential. This is not art therapy or an art lesson. It is an out-of-the-box timely, radiating, clarifying, joyful sharing, allowing the MYSTERY within to manifest greater dreams and richer life.
I share a few techniques, and a great deal of wisdom through my stories and provide a comfortable life-changing experience, as I encourage people to see life through a different lens. Let us leave words behind and use paint and canvas instead! Each of us deserves to be successful not only professionally, but also emotionally and creatively.
Where will we see your work in 2021?
My exhibition will be in July or August at the 13th Street Gallery in St. Catharines.
