Mat Tomezsko, Girl
Ask an Artist (and the companion Ask a Bartender) were some of the first concepts for features I came up with for Art in Bars. Naturally, I think we’ve managed to do one of each. But I’m trying to get back on track (as well as out of my own boring head) and today present Ask an Artist with Mat Tomezsko, where Art in Bars asks slightly stupid questions to professionals about what their work is like. There are both my Art in Bars ponderings, as well as the insightful questions of former contributor and bon vivant Mike Smith.
Mat Tomezsko is a recent graduate of Temple / Tyler and since graduation has been showing his artwork in unusual residential locations, such as the Thomas Lofts, the Parkview Condos, and this month at The Cigar Factory, a condominium in Olde City.
Art in Bars: How did you get involved in showing your work in these living spaces?
Mat Tomezsko: The Cigar Factory hosts three artists a year to show in their foyer space for four months each, and an opening reception in which a good portion of the building can be filled with the artist’s work. The art director, Nancy Small, saw two pieces of mine purchased by her friends and contacted me about the gig.
Mike Smith: HOW CAN YOU CALL YOURSELF A SERIOUS PAINTER WHEN YOU HAVE TWO PERFECTLY GOOD EARS?
MT: I have really bad hearing and can barely speak, so painting was really the most practical option.  Also, I don’t know how serious I am about anything.
Mat Tomezsko, Dead Deer
AiB: Do you feel your work is influenced more by art historical traditions, your schooling, or something else you discovered?
MT: My paintings are the result of what is consuming my thoughts.  I am working these things out visually in order to make sense of them.  So a lot is based on personal experience, but it is also me digesting art history and dealing with the process of painting and my reaction to making a handmade image.
MS: HAVE YOU EVER TRIED TO USE YOUR DICK AS A PAINT BRUSH?
MT: No, but I have tried to use my paintbrush as a dick.  Nothing but colors and complaints.
AiB: What’s it like being an artist, freshly out into the world? Are you living the dream or facing the cruelty of reality?
MT: I waver between complete rapture and utter despair.
Mat Tomezsko, Girl
MT: Oddly enough, I dream in claymation.
AiB: What is the goal of being an artist, for you personally?
MT: I want to live a full life with an open and awake mind.  I don’t know where I’ll end up.  I don’t really have a plan or a place to go, so I guess we’ll see.
MS: HAVE YOU EVER GIVEN YOUR ART AS A GIFT, ONLY TO HAVE IT REGIFTED?
MT: Maybe, but I have given a painting to a friend and then he got drunk and kicked it around the kitchen in front of me, so I stole it back when he passed out.  Now it’s in my basement.  Asshole.
AiB: Do you think art inherently serves a noble purpose? Or is it just something some people are compelled to create and others compelled to justify?
MT: Art is kind of pointless, but it is also something inherent to humanity.  It’s like consciousness, we don’t need it to survive, but here it is for us to deal with.  I don’t know if that makes it good or bad, but it is beautiful.
MS: ANY SHOUT OUTS?
MT: Carl Sagan.
Mat Tomezsko’s work will be on display at The Cigar Factory: 1147 N. 4th St. There will be an opening reception Friday, February 12th 2010 from 6:30-9:00 P.M. More images of his work are available on his blog tomezsko.blogspot.com.
Gretchen Diehl expressed interest in participating in the Ask-an-Artist and her info was passed along to me. While researching her to come up with questions (yes, I try to tailor questions to the individual’s art as well as asking about art in general) I realized I have recently seen her works at a show at James Oliver Gallery, and was intrigued when I learned that she also creates whimsical jewelry.
