Kenneth Susynski & Sarvin Haghighi – Midwest vs West Art Exhibition

Artist Portfolio Magazine 

Kenneth Susynski – Seattle, WA
I was raised abroad due to my father’s work with the US government, mostly in Germany yet also in Turkey, South Korea and the United Kingdom. The combination of my varied cultural experiences and the distinctive personalities encountered along the way impact my work more than any artistic influence.

For this series of my most recent work, I combine gestural abstraction based upon narrative events and unforgettable experiences of these past three years.- the emotional relationship between heart and color.

Oil is the blood of my work, yet in this series I mix in acrylic, automotive basecoat paint, charcoal and ink onto the substrate – finding new discoveries and experiments that can enhance the direction of a specific composition. Rare is the occasion that I use a brush, opting for application by hand, fingers, tube and palette knife in an unconventional manner that can best be described as a form of spanking.

Sarvin Haghighi – Chicago, IL
Born and raised in Tehran/ Iran, I experienced many challenges growing up. From living through war to not having basic freedom of speech outside the walls of our homes, we all found different ways to express ourselves and the way we felt. I chose Art.

Through my paintings and sculptures I want people to see the world through my eyes.

With my father being one of the best Civil Engineers in the country and my mother an amazing painter, I was blessed to grow up in a family who appreciated art in every sense.

II can’t remember when was the first time I started painting but I do remember my mom covering a big wall of our house with them all. I started getting more interested because I could use the power of my childhood fantasy to take me wherever I wanted. I could lose track of time in the colors and could express whatever I wanted to say and maybe could not say.

And till this day, whenever I stand in front of a white canvas, I just get lost in time and go back to my childhood house with the big pool, with the trees all over, with the blue sky … I’m just a child again, with wild dreams, with so many words to say, to express…