Agnes Grochulska: The Outline

Agnes Grochulska is a contemporary painter working mainly in oils. She also creates drawings in graphite and charcoal.

grochulska studied design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, Poland. She currently resides in Richmond, Virginia. Since becoming a full-time artist in 2016, her work has been shown among others, at galleries in New York City, Denver, Miami, Virginia and abroad. A solo exhibition of her work “Archetypes” took place at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art (November 2021) from November 27, 2021, until March 6, 2022.

Agnes Grochulska is interested in a broad spectrum of themes and subjects in her art. She is drawn to the human subject with all the emotion, meaning, and importance that only the human form can carry. Another idea she likes to explore is the landscape around her, trying to capture the essence of the place. 

Click here for the complete biography of Agnes Grochulska

"The outline acts as a metaphor here. It suggests a frame. It incorporates and roots the portrait in the traditional art of portraiture. It also represents the contemporary aspect of the painting in its bold and vibrant expressive character. The color choice is somewhat intuitive. I usually decide on the color at the very last stage of the process and just try to find one that works well. Hopefully, by doing both - adding a narrative and emotion associated with that certain hue, and working on a strictly decorative level as well. The way I think about the outline color is by choosing one that will either highlight the colors already present in the portrait or contrast them." 

"My hope is that the abstract form of the outline adds an emotional weight and highlights the human subject by drawing attention to the portrayed face they frame.
While my work is anchored in representation, I try to not only focus on depicting the details of my subject, but also try to capture the emotion - the essence of it. That particular “something” that drew me to that subject in the first moment. My paintings tend to transform a lot during the painting process and take a life on their own, like they want to be telling their own story..." - Agnes Grochulska

Outlined emotions and impressive physiognomies – Agnes Grochulska’s “Outline”-Series deals with the representation of feelings carved into splendid human faces.

In the search for deeply hidden sentiments, Grochulska's paintings resemble a psychological and spiritual dissection. With the help of distinctive and deep looking eyes, a connection between the sitter and the viewer is established - this is to be understood as a decisive characteristic within Grochulska's body of work. 

THE ARTIST EMPHASIZES THE FEELINGS AND THOUGHTS OF THE PORTRAYED WITH THE HELP OF A CONTINUOUS ABSTRACT LINE. IN HER PAINTINGS, GROCHULSKA SWITCHES BETWEEN THE LINE AS A FRAME AND AT THE SAME TIME AS A CONNECTING ELEMENT.  THE COLOR PSYCHOLOGY FINDS ITS STARTING POINT IN THESE STUDIES: GROCHULSKA CHOOSES THE HUES OF THE OUTLINE BASED ON A PARTICULAR EMOTION.

With the use of the impasto technique, she gives the sitters incomparable materiality and carnality: the thick brushstrokes are almost three dimensional and tear themselves out of the flat canvas.