The Laird’s Men on Men winner Damon Kowarsky talks art, inspiration and community

This year’s winner of The Laird’s Men on Men Art Competition is multi-award winning artist Damon Kowarsky. We spoke to him about his work and the inspiration for his piece, St Francis, Seoul.

What is your background as an artist?

I studied printmaking at Victorian College of the Arts and Glasgow School of Art, and Advanced Figure Drawing with Godwin Bradbeer at RMIT.

Since graduating I’ve travelled extensively in South Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Architecture and the colours of earth and sky inspire much of my work.

In 2007, I taught drawing at Beaconhouse National University, Lahore and studied miniature painting under Murad Mumtaz and Mahreen Zuberi. In 2010 and 2014, I taught printmaking at Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Karachi.

I exhibit regularly in Australia and abroad, holding solo exhibitions in cities including Melbourne, Hong Kong, New York, Philadelphia, Wellington, Cairo, Damascus, Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi.
In 2014, I was artist in residence at Guanlan Original Printmaking Base in China, Art Vault Mildura and the National College of Arts, Lahore. In 2015, I was part of Bait al Zubair Museum’s inaugural artist in residence program, and received a Mitchell Cox Residency at Portland Bay Press.

I’m currently in France on a two-month residency made possible through the support of the Alfred and Trafford Klots International Program for Artists and the Maryland Institute College of Art.

Why is art important to you?

Making art is fun. It’s a challenge that connects you to all the artists that have gone before. It lets you think in particular ways. It lets me eat.

Above: Damon Kowarsky. St Francis, Seoul. Medium: Etching & aquati nt from 6 copper plates. 

What inspired you for this work for the MoM comp?

I last entered MoM around twelve years ago. From memory, the winning work was a photograph of a freshly shaved and very erect penis dripping cum and wrapped in rope. I wanted to offer something else.

The birds came from a tattoo designed for Ari from Sydney. Although he never got it inked, the image stayed in my head. Earlier this year I was able to combine the birds with a drawing of John McCullough, a life model from Gasworks in Albert Park. St Francis liked birds, and is famous for his friendships with all living things. The two things seemed to go together.

What was your reaction when you heard you’d won the competition?

I’m in Léhon in France on a residency at the moment, so heard the news on Facebook through the artist Riccardo Angelo. It was a big surprise, but a real honour to be selected. I wish I could have been there to see the rest of the show. Riccardo was pretty happy too, and went out to celebrate for both of us. I’m looking forward to exhibiting at The Laird as part of Midsumma 2017 and sharing my work with more of the Melbourne community.

Why do you think the Men on Men Art Competition is important to the community?

I make art, so I tend to think it’s worth doing. Whether or not it’s more important than clean water, human rights or access to good medical care is less sure. The news about me winning came at the same time as the shooting in Orlando. Would art stop someone with a grudge and an AR-15? No, but good gun laws certainly help. And once we’ve sorted that, let’s make some pictures and put them on the wall. Hell, let’s make pictures all the time, anyway, regardless.

Do you know what you will be working on for the exhibition?

The exhibition will be a selection of prints I have made in Melbourne over the last few years. A lot of my work is about architecture and urban spaces. There will probably be a few portraits and possibly some nudes as well.

What do you hope people take away from seeing your work?

I want them to enjoy it. Art should seduce us through our eyes, and maybe even make us think.

As part of winning the Men on Men Art Competition for 2016, Damon will feature in The Laird’s annual ‘Exposed’ exhibition during Midsumma 2017. ‘Exposed’ will also feature selected works by People’s Choice 2016 winner Scott Thomas.

Find out more about Damon on Facebook here