Over the past five years, I have been traveling to Poland each summer and have developed a relationship with Stefan Niedzialkowski, an acclaimed international mime actor. These drawings were inspired by my observations of Stefan’s classes at the Mimes Studio in Warsaw, Poland during the Summer of 2007. They were produced as part of “Art of Acting in Movement Theatre International Presentations, Stefan Niedzialkowski” where they were displayed as a solo exhibition of drawings at the Mazovian Center of Culture and Art in Warsaw, November 2007.

The actors in Stefan’s studio convey intense images of the mind, reflected in their bodies and faces. Though their reactions are deeply personal, they reflect the universals of the human condition. From my own bias, I see them as striving towards similar empathy sought by contemporary figurative painting. A continuing theme in my work has been the exploration of the single figure in isolated, narrative spaces where emotions, and often anxiety, dominates. Drawings and paintings present a fictional reality where I act through the figures I depict. In this series, movement is recreated through the vision of spectator, and through the marks that create the drawing. Mark can mirror the psychology of the figure, and sometimes, serve as a second actor or environment.

Joseph Begnaud
November 11, 2007