Artist Statement

Stolarska' s work is characterised as contemporary impressionism - spans figurative, landscapes, and still life, but the subject, in each case, is secondary.

What Stolarska is really painting is the feeling the subject leaves behind. The way light moves across water, suggesting the stillness, the calmness, or on the contrary, the power of nature, the power one can feel within, sometimes even disruptive or devastating.

Stolarska paints memories and impressions of places rather than literal observations.

When the light catches the edge of a petal, highlighting beauty and giving hope even on the darkest of days.

Or, when the light bounces off glass, or diminishes into shadow behind a cloth, often showing our emotions that emanate from us, or are being hidden from the world, behind the veil of a shadow.

These light narratives - compositions in which strong contrasts of light and shadow convey mystery, movement, and the passage of time. The arrangement of objects is the beginning. The light tells the story, builds the narrative and emotional response.

She approaches every canvas with curiosity, and no predetermined solution. She draws what she calls the rhythm of the painting - enough to ensure the composition fits the canvas - and from that point, works entirely from instinct, emotion, and discovery. Each painting is a first-time experience, capturing feelings on canvas. 

Working in oils on rigid supports she prepares herself, Stolarska considers the permanence of her materials fundamental to her intention. Each work is made to last - to accompany a collector across a lifetime, so the memories and feelings are not forgotten.

Among the contemporary artists Stolarska feels a strong connection with are Evan Abrahamson, Michael Klein, and David A. Leffel. Artists of the past who continue to inspire her include Rembrandt, Caravaggio, Schmid, Monsted, among many others.