Artist Statement

“Finding Space & Other Stories” is a brand new collection of 16 mixed media assemblages examining the societal state of “house and home” – and beyond. The combined set of works explores both having to leave home as well as witnessing one’s past (one’s autobiography) all amidst a backdrop of intercontinental migration, massive pollution from plastics overuse, and global political unrest.  

 The search for belonging and for one’s tribe is a central theme. Individual pieces, while still part of the larger set, present their own story and content. As such, there is space for flexibility, open-endedness, and interpretation in each piece -- and as a whole collection.  

 Characteristics of the Collection

Assorted Wood Applications

Vintage Toy Constructions (Houses, Spaceships & Figurines)

CNC Carved Houses & Figurines

CNC Carved Wall-Dependent Reliefs

3D Printed Plastics

Recyclables

Graphite Drawings

Painted Environments on Canvas (acrylic & gesso)

Artist-Made Custom Frames

Vintage Toys

Tinker Toys* prominently appear in the collection and serve as the artist’s initial inspiration. Litewski dumped out a carton of tinker toys and started “playing” with them to coax out a solution for a piece he was working on in another series. The resulting smell and touch of the familiar wooden wheels and colored sticks elicited a flood of childhood memories for the artist. This created a strong desire to use the materials in future projects that would both challenge him as an artist while also visually challenging his viewers.

Distinctive Framing

A key aspect of the collection is the artist’s willingness to explore how artwork is presented. The artist sought to broaden what a frame is, what it could mean, and how it could impact the presentation of his compositions.

Examples include:

• using the backside of pre-stretched canvases as a starting point

• combining multiple canvases into connected, adjoining arrangements to expand visual impact and extend the visual field

• grouping multiple figurines into cohesive sets of stories within a single distinctive frame

• including 3D elements outside the frame to extend the composition  

• creating custom, uniquely different frames for each piece in the collection whereby each frame seamlessly becomes part of the whole piece of art

        

“Finding Space & Other Stories” presents the universal experience of going forward and pushing through -- while looking back, then unpacking & re-examining once again as we arrive at our new destination, all while ultimately understanding that “finding space” is always possible.

*Nearly 99% of the vintage toys in “Finding Space & Other Places” are vintage Tinker Toys. A small percentage of the vintage toys in the artworks could have been produced by other toy manufacturers.