Albin Talik - Paper Painter

Paper Painting by Albin Talik
Paper Painting by Albin Talik

1. Please tell me a favorite story about your childhood? What positive life principle did you learn from your parents  caregivers - that still informs your life today?

 

I grew up in a small town called Jelenia Góra in Poland. Because my father was a soldier, I often spent my free time on the ranges. Driving a tank, watching rifles and grenades were the things that fascinated me. It was not typical fun for a child. 

 

My father always told me, "First duty, then pleasure." I hated this rule because when other children were playing I had to learn. Yet, I still follow this principle today. It really helps me now. If I have something to do, I do with all my heart. I learned to convert work into pleasure.

 

I will always remember my brother's room. He is older than me. I was always curious about his room and its contents. There were lots of CDs, books, guitar and other interesting things. I would sneak in there. Thanks to him I met writers such as Faulkner, Kosinski, Le Guin, and bands like Pink Floyd, Slayer and Metallica. It's a sweet memory.

 

2. Was there anything in your past that caused you pain, struggle or hardship?

 

Oh yes. Generally, my childhood was unsuccessful. My parents were not a happy couple.

As a child, we constantly moved around from place to place, from town to town, I had no friends. 

I felt alone. As a child I felt very little. I always had been the shortest in school and was ridiculed because of my height. 

 

That was awful. Besides, my name aroused much attention. I was short with a strange name. 

I spent a lot of time in hospitals. It turned out that I have a problem with the pituitary gland.

I started to take drugs, growth hormones. It helped and I grew up a little.

 

 

3. Describe a difficult event or circumstance in your childhood, teens or adult years that caused you to "act-out" or "act-in" in a detrimental way. How did your emotional pain manifest and limit your life thereafter?

 

There were many such moments. My father was an alcoholic. Practically all his life he drank. We had no money. My mom got sick. I was terribly ashamed. My family did not exist. I had no upbringing. Early on I began drinking, smoking marijuana, and living on the edge. I had problems at school, and problems at home. I was a rebellious teenager. I had long hair, dyed my beard green, tattoos...I was not happy. I got used by others and I liked solitude. At age 19, I started playing in a band. We played heavy rock. Very heavy. I put all my feelings in music, pain and hatred. It helped me a lot.

 

4. What has been the main theme of struggle in your life? What is the main thing that you have needed to heal in your lifetime?

 

Shame. I think this is the feeling that I most need to heal. I think I miss the childhood that I never had. I had to learn everything myself as a child. I envy people who have loving families. You see, I have no good memories. I mostly remember the bad. My parents did not teach me anything. They did not show me anything. They not were not able to be interested in me. My father was always drunk every day and I hated him for it. I could tell a million stories that caused shame. He drank himself to death. These things can not just forget, and you can not just forgive but I'm trying to.


 

 

5. What is your greatest strength today?

 

My girlfriend and my daughter. My own family. My two sister in law. My friends. People from whom I received help, knowledge and support. Thanks to them, I feel the desire to live. Love and friendship is the greatest strength. What can I say? I just got a birthday present from my sister in law Emilia and her husband Frank, which was my own website. 

 

If you have time, please take a look at: www.albintalik.com.

 

Now I can finally sell my paintings all over the world. What a surprise!

 

I have a constant feeling that I must do something. I am hungry for life and learning. I'm curious about everything. I have a lot of passion and a lot of things that I like to do. And, I never say "No." I'm not afraid to start new things in life. When I was 30 years I started to draw. I've never tried it before. Discipline and regularity is the key to success.

 

6. What is your favorite creative healing modality? What makes you feel alive, passionate and whole? Please describe the details of your creative process.

 

My technique is called paper painting. This means that my pictures consist only of paper. I do not use paint. I use magazines, old albums and newspapers. I cut the pages into small pieces for gluing. As for the subjects of my paintings, they are created as follows: At the beginning I look for a theme, and then I start the drawing. If I'm feeling happy with the theme, I start to look for the colors and the atmosphere, which will give the right feeling to the character.

 

I usually start on the background. To well combine the colors, I use the "color wheel" by Adobe. Helpful tool. Then I move on to the next component. Skillful combination of colors is my priority. 

This gives the illusion of an oil painting. Of course the paper cutting method is also important. The subject image oscillates around the human figure. Human nature and solitude are favorite themes.

 

I'm interested in issues related to the forces of nature, dark matter, dark energy, the unknown and mysterious forms of energy, and the expansion of the universe. The heroes of my paintings are often characters with their heads in the shape of a pyramid. This is my trademark.

 

As a rule my format image of 100x70 cm takes me about a week to finish. But there are works on which I spend more than a month. It depends on the degree of complexity. I work from home. I turned my living room into a studio. I like to work alone. I always listen to some music when I work. At this point, I am listening to the band City and Colour. This is my favorite band.

 

  

7. Describe yourself as whole and healed. Who are you in your essence?

 

Hard to say. I think that art helps me in life. You see, I only learned drawing five years ago. Previously, I was involved in music. I recorded a few albums, I played a lot of concerts. The music was a form of escape for me - from the "bad" world. My decision to try my hand at painting felt crazy.

 

I was afraid to paint but I also felt a huge need. Today I can say that thankfully, it is easier to convey my emotions through painting. I feel I can say more about myself with colors and shapes. I simply love it. I think I waited all my life for this. Besides the art, the best part is that you can always improve. So to answer to your question, what I can say is that I do not feel totally healed but I feel helped by my art all of the time.

 

Five years ago I went through a nervous breakdown. I had to decide upon my future. I quit drinking, quit smoking, and I even stopped drinking coffee. I shifted my life onto the other side of the tracks. Now, after five years, I can safely say that I look soberly at the world. I have devoted myself to my artwork. I have started a family. I have a wonderful daughter. I'm trying new things, recently bought a skateboard and try to ride 20 kilometers a day. I finished my schooling in computer graphics. I have created drawings for animated films. A lot of good is happening.


About Albin Talik

 

My name is Albin Talik. I am from Poland. The technique that I use is called: paper painting. This technique is based on collage. I'm trying to get the effect of oil painting with irregular brushstrokes. My works are made up of thousands of pieces of paper.

 

 

http://www.artematic.eu/Aukcje?autor=Albin%20Talik

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