A twentieth century artist whom I have, in part, also considered in my research and how the individual might react within their process in relation to the compromised body, Julian Stanczak the Polish post-war Op-Artist, whose experiences around health and disability are often the initial focal point for any discussion or interview relating to him. For instance, in these extracts from an interview with art critic Brian Sherwin they outline the circumstances wherein he lost the use of his right (and dominant) arm and subsequently, through a process of necessary adjustment, continued his practice as a left-handed artist for the majority of his art career:
Sherwin:
“Mr. Stanczak, may we discuss your youth? Can you reflect on your past and explain how it shaped your future in art? At the beginning of World War II you were forced into a Siberian labour camp, where you permanently lost the use of your right arm (You happened to be right-handed.). In 1942, at the age of 13, you escaped Siberia to join the Polish army-in-exile in Persia. How did these early experiences of struggle and war influence your future work? Also, how did you make the transition of having lost the use of your right arm to painting with your left-hand?”
Stanczak:
“The transition from using my left hand as my right, main hand, was very difficult. My youthful experiences with the atrocities of the Second World War are with me, but I wanted to forget them and live a “normal” life and adapt into society more fully.”
Sherwin:
“Many people would stop working after losing the use of their main hand. I actually know a few artists who stopped working after enduring such a tragedy. They never got over it. Considering the experiences of your youth and the loss of the use of your right arm… all of the obstacles you had overcome… would you say that your work is about survival? Was that a key element to your growth as an artist?”
Stanczak:
“All human chosen preoccupations are about survival!” (Sherwin. 2007).
In another example of this focus, in the couple of quoted lines below, the interviewer highlights, once again, in her discussion with Stanczak, the affect of his illness:
Karabenick:
“Conditions were harsh in the camp. There you suffered from serious illnesses and terrible abuse, and the latter would result in the permanent loss of the use of your right arm.”
Stanczak:
“Yes, this loss ruled out the possibility of ever becoming a cellist.”
Karabenick:
“Your ability to draw at a young age was very impressive. You made the drawing below when you would have been only about 15 years old, having as yet received no instruction in art. Also remarkable is that, although you grew up right-handed, you drew this with your left hand, having by this time permanently lost the use of your right arm.” (Karabenick. 2012)
Whilst his reply to Karabenicks first statement may be brief, and almost frivolous, it is the combination of that along with his almost triumphant, or at least defiant, humour and the interviewers focus on the disability which I find are often substantial elements of how the post-illness artists’ identity is examined. Herein, it is obvious that Stanczaks’ identity as an artist will always be completely intermeshed with his physical condition, especially from an external standpoint. From that outside point of view it might seem that the loss of the use of the dominant arm for an artist would be an insurmountable catastrophe, however, in the adjustment to left-handedness (which he himself cites above to Sherwin as being “Very Difficult”)we see how, as in the case of Hanna Cormick, he has reframed his relationship as an artist with his body, and thus, as is so often the case, the continuation of the person as an artist in the compromised body is an act of ‘Survival’ and a manifestation of the desire, and ultimately the capacity, of an ill artist to not just continue, but also to thrive in the post-illness period of their career.
Again, in Stanczaks obituary in Art News, Alex Greenberger cites the artists’ physical ailments as central to his identity:
“Many critics, Judd included, have been quick to see Stanczak’s work through the lens of his personal life. Julian Stanczak was born in Borownica, Poland, in 1928. He and his family were forced to work on a labour camp in Siberia during World War II. In his time there, he developed encephalitis, which ultimately rendered his right arm unusable. When he started painting, he was forced to work solely with his left arm, yet despite his handicap, he always worked alone, obsessively piling lines and shapes of various densities on his canvases by himself.“ (Greenberger. 2017)
So, in the post- period, Stanczak reorders the methodology of his practice, adjusting his processes to new and profoundly altered circumstances, and continues within these adjusted parameters. We also see how Stanczak discusses his continuation of his arts practice in terms of ‘Survival’, how he must survive (overcome) the affect of the illness so as to continue to create. In this, what we see is not necessarily the idea of recovery from the illness and a subsequent return to a pre-illness state, rather the idea of survival is one of finding a way to continue within the framework of the post-prognosis altered state. As with each of the artists I have discussed, or spoken with, and including my own experience, it would be reasonable to conclude that that which is survivable is potentially surmountable, and therefore continuation within new parameters is completely reasonable.
Paul Roy 