Interview with Patricia Gagic
Patricia is an accomplished International Contemporary Artist and award- winning Author. She is the President of Patricia Karen Gagic Art Enterprises Inc. represented by Art Production NYC agency, the Paul Fisher Gallery in West Palm Beach and Miami, Gallery on the Bay in Hamilton, Ontario, Artworld Fine Art in Toronto and F@CEC in France. Patricia has exhibited with BB International Fine Arts in Switzerland with her work accepted to Art Fairs in Geneva, Berlin, France, Austria and Zurich. Exhibitions across North America included the Coda Gallery in New York, Meg Gallery, Peak Gallery in Toronto and many others. In 1999 Patricia began her studies with Master Artist Dragan Dragic in Savoillan, France. In 2007 Patricia was an Honorary Commissioner at the 52nd Venice Biennale in support of Transcendental Realism – art of Adi Da Samraj.
Patricia received the Gold Medal in Photography, December 2018 from the Salon Nationale Beaux Arts (SNBA) at the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris. In 2019 her work was exhibited at the Salons des Independants, Grand Palais in Paris, Brussels Art Fair and the World art event in Cannes. She is a Top 60 Master artist by ATIM in New York and recipient of the Silver Medal by the Societe Academique Arts, Sciences and Lettres of France. She has exhibited with Parallax Art Fairs in London, Chelsea and Kensington in the UK in 2018. In 2020 Patricia will exhibit in Tokyo, Singapore, Abu Dabi, Paris, London and NY. She is also named Artist of the Year 2020 by ATIM exhibiting in Florence, Italy.
Karmic Alibi her first book published by Bettie Youngs Books was an Award Finalist in the 2014 USA Best Book Awards and a Finalist in 2015 International Book Awards in the Non-Fiction Narrative category. Karmic Alibi received the 2017 Book Excellence Award in the Non- Fiction category. She is a Co-author in the Amazon Best Seller Voices of Inspiration with Marlon Smith, RockStar Success stories with Craig Duswalt, Sexy without Boundaries with Hidi Lee, Rock Your Life with Craig Duswalt among others. “Karma and Cash” her first fiction book was released in 2015. Patricia is currently working on several other book projects including “The Black Snowflake”, “Thirsters and Quenchers”, “Anger to Zen” and a project with Celebrity entrepreneur Clint Arthur. Patricia has spoken on stages including the Harvard Club of Boston, Carnegie Hall NY and NASDAQ.
Patricia is a Certified Meditation Specialist/Facilitator completing her Certification in Applied Mindfulness and Transformative Mindfulness and Mindfulness without Borders from Factor Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto. She is a Level 3 Feng Shui Consultant, a Reiki Master and loves playing computer Chess. She is a dedicated Rotarian (Oakville Passport club) and is a long-time community supporter. She was the founder of Kyralex Management Group and MLX Property Management with a successful career in banking and entrepreneurship.
In 2013 she was Knighted as a Dame of the International Order of St. George Grand Prior of Canada. She is a member of the Ontario Cabinet for Friends of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and a member of the Sir Edmund Hilary Foundation Board of Directors. Patricia is an Advisor to AiDA, Academy of Imagination and Dramatic Arts in Hamilton, Ontario.
Patricia is the recipient of many awards and nominations, including Status of Women’s -Woman of the Year, YMCA Peace Medal, YWCA Women of Distinction and the Award of Excellence by the Toronto Women’s Expo. In 2017 she was presented the Excellence in the Arts for courage and commitment to human rights, dignity and freedom by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.
Patricia was recognized by WXN (Women’s Executive Network) one of the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada, awarded the BMO Arts and Communication category in 2015. In 2016 Patricia was the WXN Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada recipient in the Royal Bank Champions category. She received the WXN Top 100 award in the BMO Arts and Communication category in 2017. In 2018 Patricia was inducted into the WXN Top 100 Most Powerful Women Hall of Fame.
In 2006, Patricia assisted in the building of a Buddhist library in Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia. Her commitment to the Cambodian people flourishes with her relationship to Master Keo Ann. Together they built a school for poor children, an orphanage and school for the monks. She is involved in Boeng Meala, Cambodia with a library and Innovation House. Patricia is also a serving Advisor to Help Heal Humanity.
Could you please introduce yourself and tell us how you started in the arts? and your first experience in art making?
I am a contemporary abstract artist with a deep passion for working in acrylic and oil. At the age of 4, I had a fascination with drawing Elizabethan ball gowns to be exact…although I had never seen one in my life, I drew them with great DETAIL…. And I loved abstract art. I carried this passion inside of me throughout my teens, never sure if it was my career or not because I also loved everything about business! life is filled with synchronicities and serendipitous moments., I was determined now to challenge myself and found mentorship at the Burlington Art Centre. I met the wonderful Canadian Artist Tony Urquhart who was part of the Painters Eleven… and had my first serious realization this was my life.
How would you describe yourself and your artwork?
Motivated by the delicate balancing of elements of the past, choices made in the present and a powerful intention to change the future, each thought and intuition becomes master to the emergence of form and method in my art making. Complexity is a key frame. The infinity of possible iterations of a form is a fascination intellectually and in terms of my method. It drives how I engage with materials in the search for what is luminous to the eye and transcendent in meaning to the heart. My art is intended to point to what is greater than the conventional and logic-based point-of-view.
The under-painting is central to how this orientation shows up in the final works. In search for the luminous and transcendental, the under-painting is an investigative yet carefully orchestrated evolution of intentional layering in which I am immersed in a process of moving with a rich flow of contemplative and clairvoyant thought. In this movement, I press-in on the mark-making with brush and paint, then stand apart from it, then press-in again and so on until the idea which wants to be noticed shows itself in relationship with my intention for an image. This process is deeply personal. It is intended to bridge to others and invite them to participate in the images I make, such that well-being is magnified by an encounter with something opening them to intuition of a greater Whole.
One of the influences on my artistic life and practice is the Transcendental Realist artist, Adi Da Samraj. He speaks about the function of art in a way perfectly giving voice to my intention. He writes, “True Art heals, True Art restores equanimity. Art must regenerate the sense of well-being. That is its true purpose.” This regeneration of well-being is an overarching purpose in my method and is the context of an intellectual consideration around image-making. It is my experience well-being resides as an already-present condition in the domain of the esoteric rather than exoteric world of things and strategies designed to make us feel better, or safe, or at ease. I try to stand on the magical horizon where the rules of nature and the mystical unknown find their way together from mind to hand to canvas in order to create conditions for well-being to be re-animated in experience of the viewer. Additionally, the “Small Worlds” of Wassily Kandinsky (1922) further inspired my attraction to complexity/simplicity paradox as the mathematics in his work harmonized aspects of my feeling with understanding and brought a joyful knowing and sense of something beyond the images themselves.
My long-time mentor and dear friend, Master Artist, Dragan Dragic (who I was blessed to meet and study with in France since 1999) has deeply influenced me through his conception of the extraordinary depth he reveals in the palette of Matisse. Dragan surrendered himself to these secrets in a lifelong journey of revelation and dedication bringing me cause to examine and view his work with an appreciation of and engagement with the paradox of complexity coupled with simplicity. The outcome engendered confidence in portraying simplicity as the ultimate expression of complexity. Dragan encouraged me to see the beauty of abstraction lies in the various underlying hypostases combining or being in dynamic relationship in such a way as to become conscious to the viewer as a living process.
As a group, those by whom I am influenced are practitioners of what I call “Complex Simplicity”. The brilliant artist, Franz Kline, eventually became a dynamic interpreter of boldness with monochromatic staging where black was equally as powerful as white and required careful fluid strength. The work of Adi Da Samraj informs my understanding of the need to perpetually embody the aesthetic experience as Reality Itself.
There is a delicious struggle I engage in daily as I am drawn into what is “in-between” the phenomena, moments, ideas which arise and yet practicing in the actual doings of the world in order to make visible what is found in those spaces. It is my adventure to capture more truth as an artist and be less of an ego and I sense the Ultimate Reality might be touched in the in- between spaces as both Truth and Egoless. As an artist, I look to find clues on how to enter in to these spaces more and more consistently. In the work of Paul Emile Bourduas, I found rhythm and seduction at the root of his process and all the in-between spaces functioning as necessary places of risk to effervescently touch those rhythms, to animate the seductions. The moments of this realization create a rich ocean of plankton, food for the conceptual work to be done.
What I continue to learn is how incredibly liberating it is to affirm and elevate emotion as the intent of a painting or photograph. Being fearless in approaching the image as a sovereign manifestation requiring my stand as one “getting to know” life, bringing forth clues for others, and trusting the process. This is the under-painting of the journey I have been so humbly given to fulfill.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
After spending many years studying Buddhism, practicing meditation and travelling to various parts of the world, I believe I tap into "otherly places' "moments in between moments'. The inspiration is constant and a strong reflection of the "knowing".
What emotions do you hope the viewers experience when looking at your art?
Please see answer in description of myself and artwork.
When do you know that an artwork is finished ?
There is a system always in place, although I cannot actually explain how or why. The creative process is all about layering and repetitive action with a sense of balance. The magical moments which somehow demand my attention and a sense of finality. I will admit I have revisited works previously completed with new eyes and a joyful "attack" to re-invent.
What has been the most exciting moment in your art career so far?
There have been a few which I hold as very important. Meeting my mentor Dragan Dragic in 1999 and spending two decades studying with him has the greatest impact. As a result of this I believe my work evolved and was recognized with a greater sense of historical importance. I am the only female Canadian to have spent this length of time under his mentorship. Being nominated and named one of the WXN (Women's Executive Network) Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada twice by the BMO Arts and Communications is also a high achievement. Winning the Gold Medal in Photography at the SNBA (Salon Nationale des Beaux Arts) at the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris December 2018 also stands as an important marker as the first female Canadian to receive this award.
How long does it take to produce one work?
At all times, there are 6-10 works in progress. I move from one piece to the other which can take several months to complete.
What exciting projects are you working on right now?
I began the Essence Experience in 2018 which incorporates an interview, photograph and then a painting of an individual who has made an impact in this world. Some of the people I have included are politicians, artists, actors and humanitarians.
Email: patgagic@gmail.com
Website: https://www.patriciakarengagic.com
Instagram: Instagram.com/PatriciaGagic
Facebook: Facebook.com/PatriciaGagic
