C.C. Czerwinski

Catherine C. Czerwinski (C.C. Czerwinski) was born in 1990. Her professional career started in 2012 when she moved to Costa Rica and let destiny take its course. Since then she has worked and traveled throughout Central America, Europe and the United States, producing a limited number of series; and dedicating the drying time in between layers of paint to the nonprofit she founded, Idol Hands. Czerwinski is currently living and working in New York City.

ARTIST STATEMENT: 

I truly believe we have all the resources, money and intelligence we need to solve all of the world’s problems; the only problem is we’re not.

It’s so easy to become overwhelmed by the day-to-day struggle that is living and having a human experience; constantly besieged by our sympathetic nervous system it becomes all too easy to lose sight of the horizon. It is imperative we always look for the light though if we want to evolve into a more just and harmonious society. We must believe the brighter future exists in order to find a way there.

For years I’ve carried out dozens of collaborative mural art projects working with marginalized and under-served communities to create a positive image rooted in their shared experience. It is often a challenge for participants to put their worries aside and tap into a different vibration, but through a simple workshop I’ve seen a transformative pause and shift in energy.

I just ask at the start of every project for participants to sit with me, slow their breathing and think of something that makes them happy. For the moment, only the moment exists and it exists to draw what brings joy. It is not foolproof or everlasting, but it is accessible at any moment.

For my part of the Don’t Block Your Blessings Festival I’ll be hosting an adapted version of that workshop that will be more deeply rooted in my personal practice while collaborating with the audience in the comment section. I invite you all to join me for a brief exercise to engage the parasympathetic nervous system and take a moment to create along with me or offer up comments of the little things that bring happiness into your life to be incorporated into my work.

Pause for creation and appreciation of the little things can ease the mind into a new relaxed state where it becomes much easier to go about life, less irritated and more appreciative of each opportunity to engage with the world around us; even when it means facing the greatest challenges. You might find that it’s not that the sky is falling, it’s we who are climbing a mountain.