In pursuit of artistic freedom, she left the commercial world in 1988 to establish a professional art studio, concentrating her efforts on painting the landscape and figure. This led to portrait commissions, international awards, and inclusion in several corporate collections throughout the midwest, including Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, and Key Corp.
Since 2009, her focus has been to develop her personal figurative work. Stanka’s awards include, the Gold Medal of Honor in Painting from Allied Artists of America, and 2 Certificates of Excellence from the Portrait Society of America International Competition. Her work has been exhibited and collected widely, and shown in venues nationally, including: the National Arts Club, and the Salmagundi Club in New York City, as well as the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio.
Stanka’s work and process has been featured in: International Artist Magazine, Fine Art Connoisseur, Southwest Art, and The Artists Magazine. Her paintings are also included in the book, Disrupted Realism: Paintings for a Distracted World, by John Seed.
Gallery Representation:
Stanek Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Bowersock Gallery, Provincetown Cape Cod, MA
“The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature.” Joseph Campbell
“Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.” Robert Frost
When a painter listens for the poetry of life and sees their process as a meditation, they become informed by their own internal voices, without regard for surface distractions that take us further from the balance of our own true nature. Engaging the painting in subconscious dialog and conversation makes process a living thing. Not something fashioned from books or a teachers instruction , but an inner call that places us at one with it.
American painter Stanka Kordic believes that a painting reveals itself to the painter from one moment to the next. That instinct and intuition play a primary role in connecting the artists spirit to the spirit of the materials and the idea being portrayed. That working from a center point of the creative being is where knowing disappears and a sense of unknown begins. From this unknown conscience , true nature is born. It is true nature that is the goal. Kordic believes that the sounds of nature affect our creativity as much as the visual scene. That the texture and feel of the paint informs it’s application as a sensual experience.
That painting is a dance of the spirit which releases itself from you and to you at the same time. That process is a conversation between materials, self and idea. Kordic works mainly from a subconscious- conscious memory and imagination . She believes we pass ourselves on through art which identifies our oneness with nature and ourselves. Kordic’s primary subject matter revolves around children and adolescence and portrays a dream world full of magic potential- not the recognizable reality. Her personal process reduces the idea to its core and puts it into a world of marks and color conveying emotional idealism. The result is a mythic interpretation. That subject matter is symbolic.
The viewer becomes part of Kordic’s world , becoming part of the viewers as well. Stanka Kordic comes from a place of classical traditional values , but chooses to find herself in it. She is fearless in her passion to find out where the paintings will take her. The process is often fraught with change and revision, but Kordic likes to say ” It’s just paint ” and isn’t afraid to wipe out , go over, or even destroy to begin again a work to find the better way. Her work is unique and refreshing as a painter on a journey of discovery to destinations that don’t exist , but are found. Even her artists statement is reductive and to the point… “My practice is centered on responding to the paint in the present moment, within the boundaries that figurative representation provides. A layered conversation begins. I acknowledge all that transpires within those layers – be it felt, observed, or revealed. It all has a place in my process. ”
-Alan Katz, Painter, Writer, from Los Angeles, CA 2015
“Stanka Kordic evokes a world of fragility and sentiment. Kordic’s artistic process, which is centered around her affinity for the undiscovered, is sensitive to mystery, memory, and narrative. Figures vanish, coalesce and layer themselves into painted environments that seem both to sustain and corrode them. Kordic’s resonant images are often unforgettable and just a bit uncomfortable.”
-John Seed, Curator, Writer, Art Critic. 2018 review of work from the Disrupted Realism Show at Stanek Gallery in Philadelphia, PA
Education:
- The Cleveland Institute of Art, BFA, Illustration Degree with a Painting Minor.
- PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
- 2015-2019 Painting Instructor, Nationally.
- 2008-present: Professional Fine Artist
- 1998-2008: Commissioned Portrait Artist. In the collection of patrons across the globe.
- 1991-2020: Artist in Residence, Beaumont School. Fine Art instructor and mentor.
- 1987-1998: Freelance Artist and Illustrator. Editorial, package design, book illustration, at local and national level. Fine Art exhibited regionally, and acquired in corporate collections including, Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, Key Corp, Bonne Bell.
- 1986-1987: Staff Illustrator, Rasic Art
Awards And Exhibitions
2019
American Women Artists National Exhibit, Steamboat Springs Museum, Steamboat Springs, CO. Award of Excellence
Disrupted Realism #2, Stanek Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2018
- Disrupted Realism, Stanek Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
- American Women Artists, Online Spring Competition, Second Place
2017
- The Artist Trust at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland, OH
- Site Unseen, Abend Gallery, Denver CO
- Woman X, Invitational, Lakeland College Gallery, Mentor, OH
- May Show, juried, Lakeland College Gallery, Mentor OH, Juror’s Award
2014
- Finalist in the Manifest Gallery 8th International Painting Annual
- American Art Invitational, Saks Galleries, Denver, CO
- The May Show, Juried, Lakeland College Gallery, Mentor, OH
- Woman VII, Invitational, Lakeland College Gallery and Intown Club, Cleveland OH
- INDA 9 International Drawing Competition, Finalist
2013:
- Ambiguity & Wisdom, Solo Show at The Carnegie, Covington, KY
- Women Painting Women, Invitational, The Principle Gallery, Alexandria, VA
- Portrait Society of America Members Only Competition, 4th Honor Award
- Portrait Society of America International Competition, Certificate of Excellence
- Woman VI, Invitational, Lakeland College Gallery, Mentor, OH
- The May Show, Juried, Lakeland College Gallery, Mentor, OH
2012:
- Portrait Society of America Members Only Competition, 3rd Place, and 5th Merit Awards
- Allied Artists of American Natiional Juried Exhibition, New York, NY, Gold Medal Ptg.
- Raymar International Competition, Finalist
- The Laumeister Juried Exhibition at The Bennington Center for the Arts, Bennington, VT
- The May Show, Juried, Lakeland College Gallery, Mentor, OH
- Woman V, Invitational, Lakeland College Gallery, Mentor, OH
- The Portrait Society of America International Competition, Certificate of Excellence
- Solo Show, The Rhythm of Stillness, Fairmount Center for the Arts, Novelty, OH
2011:
- Drawing Magazine Self-Portrait Competition, Finalist
- Solo Show, The Rhythm of Stillness, Sullivan Gallery, Bay Village, OH
- America China Oil Painting Artist League Nation Competition, Finalist
- Art Renewal Center International Competition, Finalist
- Catherine Lorillard Wolfe Annual Juried National Competition, New York, NY
- Oil Painters of America, Eastern Conference, Orleans, MA
- Raymar Juried Competition, Finalist
- Woman IV, Invitational, Lakeland College Gallery, Mentor, OH
- The May Show, Juried, Lakeland College Gallery, Mentor, OH
- Fairmount Juried Regional Competition, Novelty, OH, Best of Show
- Backgrounds in the Forefront, Invitational, Guenzel Gallery, Fish Creek, WI
- Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts, Saratoga, WY, 2 week residency
2010:
- The Butler Midyear at the Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH
- Women Painting Women, Invitational, Robert Lange Studio Gallery, Charleston, SC
- Artist Magazine Annual Juried Competition, Finalist
- The May Show, Juried, Lakeland College Gallery, Mentor OH, Best of Show
2009:
- The Salon International Juried Competition, The Greenhouse Gallery, San Antonio, TX
- Art Kudos International Competition
- American Women Artists Juried National Competition, South Street Gallery, Easton, MD
- Oil Painters of America Eastern Regional Competition, Corse Gallery, Jacksonville, FL
Gallery Representation
- Stanek Gallery, Philadelphia. PA
- Bowersock Fine Art, Provincetown, Cape Cod, MA
Publications And Media
- Artist Network feature: Is Source Material Getting in the Way of Your Creativity, 2020
- Interview feature on Newington-Cropsey Cultural Studies Center, 2020
- Interview feature on The Autumn Salon, 2017
- Feature article: “A Quiet that is Visceral” Fine Art Today
- ‘Exploring the Path of Most Resistance’ article for Artists on Art online magazine.
- Curated by Alia El- Bermani, Site Unseen, Poets & Artists, February 2017
- Curated by Daniel Maidman in Devotion, Poets & Artists, September 2015
- Fine Art Connoisseur Today, feature article, February 2015
- Podcast interview on the Savvy Painter, 2015
- Curated by Steven DaLuz in the Power of Drawing Issue, Poets & Artists, December 2014
- Combustus Magazine, Feature, June 2014
- Fine Art Connoisseur, Self-Portrait feature, April, 2014
- Fine Art Connoisseur, Interview, September 2013
- Artists on Art, Spring 2013 Issue, The Call to Respond
- International Artist Magazine, Dec/Jan #88, Cover Art and Feature demo article
- Southwest Art, December 2012, Artist to Watch
- Drawing Magazine, May, 2012
- American Art Collector: November 2010
- ArtSee Magazine: Nov/Dec 2010 issue
Stanka Kordic Painting
Stanka Kordic Painting
Stanka Kordic Painting
Stanka Kordic Painting
Stanka Kordic Painting
Stanka Kordic Painting
Stanka Kordic Painting
Stanka Kordic Painting
Stanka Kordic Painting
Stanka Kordic Painting
Stanka Kordic Painting
Stanka Kordic Painting
Stanka Kordic Painting
Stanka Kordic Painting
Stanka Kordic Painting
Stanka Kordic Painting
Stanka Kordic Painting
Stanka Kordic Painting
Stanka Kordic Painting
Stanka Kordic Painting
Stanka Kordic Painting
Stanka Kordic Painting
Stanka Kordic Painting
Stanka Kordic Painting
Stanka Kordic Painting
Stanka Kordic Painting
Stanka Kordic Painting
Stanka Kordic Painting
Stanka Kordic Paintings