Gina Torkos

Gina Torkos
St. Augustine, Florida, USA

STATEMENT

Creating unique collages fulfills my need to express my knowledge, technical skills and imagination. My art education was self-directed, as I took every class I thought would be interesting. Through the years I created realist art in various mediums, utilizing all those fundamental art skills I acquired along the way. For me, it was a natural progression to venture from oil painting into collage, as I wanted a looser, more spontaneous feel to my paintings, and when I started “painting with paper” I found the means to that end.

Creating my collages are like putting together a puzzle. I start with only a general outline of the shapes. Then I look through magazines to find pieces that fill in those shapes. Its challenging and fascinating as I see each collage evolve. Sometimes the most incredible pieces just find their way into my collages; pieces that make me smile, or pieces that make me think. From afar, my collages resemble realist or slightly impressionistic paintings, but get closer and you see paper mosaics filled with images, words and phrases. There is no paint on any of my collages, just magazine scraps and an archival gel medium as glue and varnish.

My work embodies my philosophy of life, that not everything is as it appears at first glance. It is often when you slow down, and look a bit closer, that you find the unexpected that enhances your life. In that vein, I love to give my viewers a chance to look a bit longer, to suspend their belief for a bit, and “see” something quite different from what they thought they would see.

BIO

Gina Torkos was born in Pennsylvania and discovered at an early age her passion for art. Gina was continuously enrolled in art classes and workshops while working toward a master’s degree in Speech Pathology and raising a family. After numerous group shows, she landed her first solo show in St. Augustine, Florida in 2013. Now, as a full time working artist, Gina’s love of art is expressed mainly in collage. She uses magazines as her only material as she constructs her collages. From a distance, her collages appear to be realist paintings, but look closer and the individual pieces that make up the images stir your imagination.

Gina has received both local and national recognition for her work, including best of show, first place awards, and national and regional art magazine coverage. Her work is included in public and private collections internationally. She splits her time between St. Augustine, Florida and Pennsylvania.

ARTIST CONTACT

[click to email]
www.ginatorkosart.com

IMAGES