Marek Okon

Marek Okon is a great believer in the narrative of art following the notion that, as artist, we are also storytellers. Communicating a narrative through visual imagery is essential as it is perhaps the first way in which stories were told before language. One should be able to determine the narrative of the image without explanation as Okon himself states:

“If you have to explain to people what the image is all about then the image fails, as it should speak for itself. That’s why I never describe my images, nor answer any story-related questions. What you see is what you get and if you don’t see what I wanted to show you, then it’s my fault as my visual messages obviously weren’t clear enough.”

An important message that all artists should be aware of – this is something that I will defiantly be keeping in mind with my own conceptual designs for Brothers Grimms’ tale.

Imagery with a narrative can have a much greater impact to the audience stirring emotions with an extra layer of depth. A prime example is Okon’s piece ‘Rain’, a powerful piece capturing a dramatic scene of a woman pushed to extreme. Not only are the fine details exceptional with intricate folds of the raincoat, to rain distorted light with a distinct cinematic approach; it also entices the audience to discover more as to ‘what pushed her to this point in life, ready to risk everything…’. Thus, I found myself looking in much greater depth and detail to find further narrative cues to the image with elements such as the contents bag or the pulled pin of the grenade.

This became particularly true with Okon’s ‘Hide and Seek’, where Okon has added finer details to convey the possible full narrative of the piece. Details such as the reflection on the icicle reflecting both the mutant and woman suggests that they both see each other, to the bioharzard container and mutilated hand perhaps suggesting a outbreak of mutated humans – the cape both the woman and masked mutant wear appear to be the same suggesting they were once human. Thus, the attention to detail provides much more depth contributing to the narrative of piece, rewarding those who take the time to analyse the image.

www.2dartistmag.com Issue 038 February 2009 Marek Okon Interview