Krzysztof Pastuszka is one of ArtConnect’s Artists to Watch '22

Krzysztof Pastuszka is a visual artist and creative engineer. He focuses on the complexity and tension in transition by giving voice to his experience growing up as a trans kid in the late 90s. He uses mechanisms to create a multitude of parts dependent on one another to concentrate on movement and the interplay between objects to envision the intricacies of change and the necessity of components cooperating to create transformation. He uses motion to expose all the micro-operations and mental acrobatics involved in navigating the unchanging nature of cisnormativity. His work develops a trail of survival blueprints archiving the unseen essence of his trans experience.
He received a BFA from the School of Visual Arts; graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from NYC College of Technology and is a patented designer. His work has been exhibited at Elisa Contemporary Art Gallery, New York Design Center, the Affordable Art Fair, and Visual Arts Gallery in NYC.

ArtConnect asked the winning artists to share with us a glimpse into their creative life to get a sense of their personal inspiration and artistic process.

How did you get started as an artist?

Growing up as a trans kid in the late 90s early 2000s was extremely isolating. I didn't have the language to describe how I felt or why I didn't fit this world as it exists, and art helped me escape into a world where I could belong. It was an escape from expectations and a reality that told me I wasn't worth anything based on societal demands. I used art as a means to survive my youth.

How would you describe your artistic approach?

I approach an idea as both how I initially see it physically and how I relate to it mentally and try to merge them in my mind. The idea drives my ambition to learn new things and keep expanding as a way to create change. The emotional attachment is what drives me to see the concept through. It's what holds the purpose of the work and the mechanism for me to communicate my unique perspective to the world.

And how about what inspires you?

Opening up a dialogue about being trans beyond the idea of physical transition visuals of before and after. Finding ways to create work that challenges me and showcases my individual perspective as a trans person to be the voice I needed in my childhood. I want to visually show what it was and continues to be like psychologically to live in a world created for cis people only. How I had to survive that world as a child and now as an adult and what we as a society need to change for the next generation to not feel like childhood is survival, to not question their value and worth based on cis-normativity.

What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced as an artist?

Balancing learning new skills and creating work, alongside documenting and finding ways to fund the creation of the work, while at the same time overcoming the self-doubt that I am producing work in a void and my work won't resonate with anyone. Writing about my work, although necessary, is difficult for me. I turn to visual art because I have always struggled with words failing to express what I'm trying to communicate.

Describe a typical day in the studio/wherever you make your work.

It depends on the part of the process I'm in, but it tends to go in a loop. I take an idea, journal about it, and see how I relate to it. I then start to draw pieces of it. I decide what is essential and try to understand why. I break down the whole concept into pieces to see where problems need to be solved, create the interactions to convey what I'm trying to express, and then draw all the solutions I can come up with. I then decide on one and begin the prototyping phase. I draw it up in CAD, 3d print, or make it in cardboard and play around a bit before settling on a design. So it is a constant readjusting, redesigning, and playing with interacting parts to see what happens next.

“Krzysztof's sculptures and method articulate a complex relationship between bodies and affect. They are simultaneously playful and poetic, and speak to queer relations to memory and experience.”

Is there a medium, a process, or a technique that you haven't used in your work yet but would like to try out?

Yes, I'd like to combine electronics, digital components, and sound with mechanical mechanisms and see how they can play together to create more of an interactive and sensory approach to art-making. I'm also interested in learning to make puppets.

What are you currently working on? Or an upcoming project you want to mention?

I'm currently working on mechanizing the archives of my transition over 20+ years. Not focusing on the image of gender, but directing the attention to the daily maintenance of transition through objects I've collected. To show the never-ending nature of transition and the physical proof of what it entails to be trans.
Another project - just in the idea stage - is creating an immersive physical and digital capsule of the literature notes from my grandmother's class lectures that I have collected. It's a way for me to continue to learn and be inspired by her and share her mind and memory with others. She had a significant influence on my pursuit of art, and it's my way to keep that alive.

How does it feel to be selected as an ArtConnect Artist to Watch?

I'm delighted to be noticed and relieved that I'm not creating work in a void. It is reassuring that there is interest in what I have to offer. Something as a kid I never would have believed.

Anything else you want to add?

Thank you for the opportunity to have a voice outside of my inner world.

See more of Krzysztof’s work

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