March 2024| Vol. 21 Iss. 3
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HOLLADAY ARTIST BIANCA KOLONUSZ-PARTEE CREATES LANDSCAPE SCENES OF THE WORLD’S OLDEST AND MOST BEAUTIFUL SHIPPING PORTS By Collette Hayes | c.hayes@mycityjournals.com
T
he industrial abstract art of Bianca Kolonusz-Partee invites the observer to step into a horizon landscape scene of the world's oldest and most beautiful shipping ports. Directly created on the wall of a room, her art gives a glimpse of the seaports that foster economic development and cultural exchange, secure diplomatic ties, and depict the strength of the natural landscape. “My pieces always end up showing the landscape stronger,” Kolonusz-Partee said. “I visited the port of Colombo, Sri Lanka, an area of the spice trade. The cranes were transporting the cargo from shore to ship, but it was nothing compared to what was happening in nature. Visiting the island of Sri Lanka was a transformative experience for me. Getting goods made cheaply in Sri Lanka ignores the rich culture, fresh spices and mind-blowing landscape.” Selected as Holladay Artist of the Month by the Holladay Arts Council, Kolonusz-Partee captures an art form crafted from product packaging in paper cutting and layering. On the floor of her studio, crates are filled with decorative papers, torn
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photo pieces, and heavy paper stock. Once used as cookie and cereal boxes, specialty chocolate wrappers, and even the occasional shampoo bottle packaging are disassembled and filed by color and wait to be artistically repurposed. “My friends and family send me a lot of the papers that I use in my landscapes,” Kolonusz-Partee said. “Many of my friends are package designers and, in the past, have created patterned papers. Design trends have now changed, and most boxes now are solid colors. If someone gives me a card, occasionally, I will incorporate it into my art.” Kolonusz-Partee received a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Studio Art from Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, an academic institution renowned for educating women leaders. After receiving a Claremont Graduate University Art Fellowship, she returned home to California to complete a Master of Fine Arts in painting. By this time, shipping ports had become the
The process of creating a shipping port landscape scene is labor intensive, taking several months to com-
Continued page 6 plete. (Photo credit Bianca Kolonusz-Partee)
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