For her first exhibition in Philadelpia, Jolynn Krystosek combined three separate but interrelated bodies of work that included her floral relief carvings in wax, floral paper cutouts, and watercolor and multimedia renderings of exotic fowl.  Throughout each series, themes of adornment, and fragility are combined with an interest in exploring the connective threads between sexuality, embellishment and the transient nature of beauty.

 

For her exotic fowl series, Krystosek cropped the portraits of male birds emphasizing the embellishment of their head feathers and plumage that are used to attract the opposite sex. The portraits conceptualize the historical association of adornment with sexuality while relaying an opposite reaction to the viewer of grotesque exaggeration. In both the wax carvings and paper work, Krystosek reconsidered the historical relationship between flowers, botanica, and the hidden sexual symbolism of such objects. Referencing Baroque Dutch Still-life painting, the works reflect their vulnerability through the ephemeral nature of the materials used (wax and paper) and through the implied themes of vanitas and ars moriendi in its subject matter. As Krystosek stated “These paintings capture the essence of decay with great opulence and also glorify the moment at which decomposition begins; the object’s most lush moment is actually the beginning of its end.”

 

Krystosek received a M.F.A. from Hunter Collage, New York, NY (2006) and a B.A. from San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA (2003). Exhibitions include:  Lucas Schoormans, New York, NY (2007);  Horticultural Society of New York, NY (2006); Frantically Baroque, Broadway Gallery, New York, NY (2006); Summer Show & Auction, 3rd Ward, Brooklyn, NY (2006); MFA Thesis Exhibition, Hunter Times Square Gallery, New York, NY  (2006); MA’s Select MFA’s, Hunter Times Square Gallery, New York, NY (2005); 12th Annual Watermill Summer Benefit, Watermill, NY (2005). Krystosek lives and works in New York, NY and is represented by Lucas Schoormans Gallery, New York, NY.