Aleks Bartosik Commentary

The Drawers - Aleks Bartosik Commentary written by Julie Oakes

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Aleks Bartosik

These are provoking drawings, rebellious stances that push the unconventional. They are pugilistic with the boxing gloves loaded - clenched fists ready to punch. They're masochistic and appeal to the sadistic side of the psyche, that unacknowledged cry to be beaten and receive the full brunt of nastiness and humiliation. Aleks Bartosik reconciles the opposites of human grossness and glamour with the dramatic brashness of size and theatrical composition. Primarily focusing on the female figure, she creates situations that suggest a tangential perversity. None the less, there is a sexy allure and it is in this respect that the unconventional comes into play. They appeal to the fascination of a big naughtiness like a Roman overindulgence that is so over-the top that it is destined to implode but tastes delicious until that final cut is made.

Alice went down the rabbit hole and in wonderland she met up with grotesques, exaggerations of the world as she had left it. There was always a resemblance to the 'real' world but the skewing raised questions, entrapments, predicaments and drugged perceptions that begged to be acknowledged. Alice, a pretty little blonde girl confronted the unusual, fascinated with the revelations. Aleks Bartosik is taking a similar trip and exploring temptation. She indulges her curiosity and hence furthers the voyeuristic interests of the viewers. The presentation of her compromised females - fat and clumsy or tastily dainty, pinioned and stuck, gloved for battle but hung, or small before a beastly headless adversary - allow the contemplation of gothic possibilities without a self righteous prod. There is no moral. There is no need to rescue. There is only the shock, the recoil, and then the step forward for a closer inspection.

A gutsy hip chick who steps outside of constraints, Aleks Bartosik uses the full force of her appearance as the autobiographically based subject of her bold yet intimate narratives. Using a storyline of self exposure, Bartosik allows her bad girl inclinations free reign. With a repertoire ranging from expressionist drawings to performances, Bartosik has distinguished her persona as a force to be reckoned with, peaked at and exclaimed upon.