Artist’s Statement

I see art as a means to an end, which is to highlight what I call the "modern problem". In my art I tend to focus on the Okanagan, which is but one node in the complex web of climate change, complacency and corruption that currently plagues the planet. In short, history is accelerating, and the future is very uncertain. It is art's challenge to find a place in this murky, shifting landscape.
I've found that the best way to approach this dismal mess is to take meta-view snapshots of each major problem area. This has lead me to pursue hallucinatory, psychedelic, surrealist mashups, in both digital paint, pen and ink, comic books and animation. Dreams are one of my biggest artistic influences, as they are nature's way of summing up complex situations. Realizing the power and depth of dreams, I have become very interested in automatic surrealist techniques, which cut through to the intuitive center, where things are distilled to their essence. At the same time, the complexity of the situation requires a lot of research and studious observation. One has to be balanced with the other, and this is my current artistic struggle.

Biography

Justin Pasieka grew up in and still lives in Vernon. He has been irritated by 25 years of change in the North Okanagan, and is increasingly making it his raison d'etre to turn this agitation into art. He has dabbled in post secondary education from time to time, in pursuit of film and animation, but has always come back to comic books, which are his home turf.
He is currently involved in an animated film project, is working on a graphic novel and runs several comic strips on his website, is painting both digitally and traditionally, and occasionally puts in some time on his electronic music project, Riotfish.