"AJ Fosik was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. In 2003, he received a BFA in Illustration from Parsons School of Design
in New York. In the years since, Fosik has lived in various cities
across the country including Denver, Brooklyn and Philadelphia. He is
currently based in Portland, Oregon.
Fosik’s artwork explores the powerful medium of language and metaphor to
emphasize narrative and interpretation. Using wood and found materials,
he creates figural, eclectic and intricately designed three-dimensional
works that intrigue and provoke. Fosik’s animal subjects and
anthropomorphized beings are built using a complex process in which each
form is carefully handcrafted by arranging hundreds of pieces of
individually cut and varnished wood, which the artist paints in vibrant
colors and patterns. Sharp teeth, claws, and eyes emerge once the
creatures are completed—some are constructed as freestanding forms while
others are wall-mounted, referencing modern taxidermy practices.
Evocative of American Folk Art and inspired by subversive cultural
influences that shift complacency, Fosik’s work suspends comfort with
the appeal of familiar symbols and images. In this dynamic tension, the
art and viewer come together in an expanded definition of culture and
assumption."
