ISSUE NO. 08 · ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
Zoë
Pawlak
Zoë Pawlak is a Vancouver-based artist working at the intersection of fine art and design. She collaborates with interior designers, architects, and private clients to create bespoke works that integrate seamlessly into residential and hospitality environments. Her practice spans large-scale paintings and site-responsive installations, including custom work designed for architectural features such as pools and outdoor spaces. Known for her intuitive use of colour and form, Pawlak creates pieces that are both expressive and deeply attuned to their surroundings. Her work is held in the collections of the Waldorf Astoria, The Ritz-Carlton, Hilton, the Government of Canada, and Cobie Smulders, and she has collaborated with organizations including TED and Casa Cipriani. Her work has been featured in Architectural Digest and Interior Design, and presented at leading design fairs.
In a sentence or two, what does your work explore?
"Themes in my work include longing, attempts at connection, abstraction as energy, and how memory presents itself in various forms. My work is about deeply intimate, singular experiences and translating those into a wider, more universally felt visual language for the viewer."
Walk us through how a piece comes together.
"I usually start with writing. I choose a mood, theme or title and then choose a size of support. I prep the canvas and then choose a colour palette.
I believe good painting begins with good drawing. Composition really matters. I was formally trained, so drawing is very important to me. You cannot out-colour or out-texture or trick people away from the experience of poor composition. Like a house with a poor layout, it will never settle or feel good."
How has your practice evolved, and where is it heading?
"I've been doing this full time for 20 years. Just this spring, I let go of a formal brick and mortar studio and have been painting on site or in other cities, and it's been both freeing and interesting to learn from, which was the goal."
What kind of space or context would you consider your work belongs in?
"I have done over 700 custom pieces and have creatively problem-solved my work into some of the most interesting spots in the world. Hotels are fun!
I really enjoy when my work is invited to a public space and I am working with highly creative teams. We just did some light installation pieces for the TD Towers. I like when we solve a wall in a fresh way, or clients collect a number of pieces so I get to shape their collection."
What do you hope someone feels in front of your figurative work?
"My figurative work has always been about how much the body can bear, the resilience of the form and spirit, and how we expose ourselves to both threat and healing when we open ourselves up through vulnerability.
The body is the house of the soul and the place where all of our fears and desires reside. The energy around us protects or pressures us. The energy we bring to our lives is a dynamic, alive and integrated part of our human experience."
"The body is the house of the soul and the place where all of our fears and desires reside."
What has challenged you, and what have you learned from it?
"I am often revered for being 'good at business', but I am just better than some or most. While it comes naturally to me in ways such as loving people, sales and connection, it compromises some parts of myself that are vastly more complex and wild and long to be more free and expansive.
I also meet my edges often in business and can't see my blind spots clearly. I therefore have needed a lot of advice to have kept this thing going for the past 20 years."