Wlasenko’s studio production focuses on a personal and investigative discourse surrounding drawing’s relationship to lens based media in modern culture.
He uses only one tool–his index finger– which he uses to manually rub powder charcoal into the surface of the paper. This technique gives the artist dexterity and control over his creation, and somehow lends warmth from the artist’s hand to each of his drawings.
Inspiration is concealed in reels of film. The images Wlasenko draws surface from the vast well-spring of historical movies. He is fascinated by the elasticity of film. Sequences that unfurl through cinematic time and space become transformative and tangible as charcoal drawings.
Lately, Wlasenko has been culling from “art house” cinema, particularly from Italy and France. He is interested in the “moment” when the dramatic structure of the movie plot changes in an instant. As with movie stills, these drawings are free-standing islands with a myriad of possible interpretations and interconnections.
