Date: Fri 27-Mar-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Quick Words:

Vaiskauckas-Scott-art-graphic

Full Text:

A Newtown Artist On The Move [Scott Vaiskauckas]

(with cut)

By Joanne Greco Rochman

Just about anyone who walked through the art department at Western Connecticut

State University during one week earlier this month was drawn to an unusually

large and provocative painting by Newtown artist Scott Vaiskauckas. "Midnight

Hunt," an oil painting on canvas measuring approximately 60 by 80 inches,

dressed up WestConn's hallways while waiting transport to the Connecticut

State University System Student Art Exhibition at the Atrium of the

Legislative Office Building (LOB) in Hartford.

Mr Vaiskauckas, a senior at WestConn, stretched and stitched an animal

skin-shaped canvas to a queen size bed frame to achieve a decidedly Native

American effect. Subtle and sensitive, the work is punctuated with primal

symbols and molecular patterns that suggest a spiritual dimension.

"I don't usually start a painting with an exact idea in mind," said Mr

Vaiskauckas, who has some Cherokee lineage through his paternal great

grandmother. "But once I cut into this canvas and started shaping it like an

animal skin, I knew what I was going to do with it.

"I wanted my painting to capture the deep sensual and spiritual satisfaction

that comes after a day of hunting -- after stringing up the skins and setting

them out to dry. I wanted to capture that moment after a hard day's work, when

a hunter would lie down, look up to the heavens and see through bright eyes

the stars and moons and everything in the universe."

Scott Vaiskauckas transcends mere image making with his passionate palette and

painterly style. "I like to paint from what is inside," said the artist.

"You can tell what's going on in a person by their painting. I want my work to

reflect what's going on in me."

"Scott is willing to experiment," said artist Robert Alberetti, professor of

art at WestConn. It was Prof Alberetti who encouraged Mr Vaiskauckas to take

on the wall-size work.

"Scott has a wonderfully intuitive, gestural technique which is based on a

strong design background."

A practicing graphic designer, Mr Vaiskauckas has a double major at the

university in graphic design and fine art. "I was following my graphic design

career and then took Painting I with artist/professor Margaret Grimes," said

Mr Vaiskauckas, who lives in Newtown with his wife Sylvia.

"Professor Grimes encouraged me to explore the fine arts more closely, so I

took Painting II with her. That's when I realized that I would never put my

brushes away. I intend to open my own freelance graphic design company, but

there will always be a place in my life for painting. Painting allows me to

dare to be different. It's a spiritual thing," he explained.

Abe Echevarria, an artist and chairman of the art department, said he has been

watching Scott's progress for four years. "A lot is demanded of our students,"

he said, adding the university nurtures them throughout the four years. "Scott

is carrying a very heavy load with a double major, but he's quite

accomplished. This big painting of his shows that he is very personal with

nature."

One of Mr Vaiskauckas' smaller paintings, "Mass Confusion," which is strong in

design and expresses the full range of human emotion, was also on exhibition

with "Midnight Hunt" at the LOB before they both moved to Real Art Ways

Gallery in Hartford.

Mr Vaiskauckas has an extensive body of work which will be featured in a one

man show at the Ridgefield Library during July and August. For more

information regarding paintings or exhibitions contact Mr Vaiskauckas

directly, at 270-3688.