Thomas Nozkowski is a painter based in the Hudson Valley region of New York. He is best known for his small-scale abstract works that the artist produces in some way as a deliberate departure from the extremely large abstract works that he was exposed to in school.

Nozkowski’s works often feature bizarre figures with a focus on composition and color within a very constrained space.

Nozkowski’s studio looks pleasantly homey here, an aesthetic that’s reinforced by the rustic wooden chair and the table to artist’s right that’s covered with painting supplies. The weathered wooden planks and spare stools in the corner also give off the feeling of a rural attic space. Everything seems to be covered in a very fine layer of splashed and dripped paint, indicating a lot of time spent by the artist absorbed in his work.

I think the relatively small scale of Nozkowski’s works also lends to this home-studio kind of feeling, as they are the type of works that I could just as easily imagine being created on a kitchen table somewhere. The artist seems to work in a somewhat gestural, not tightly planned-out way, responding in paint to the evolution of a work as it happens. I would think his studio would be simultaneously a space of meditative process, and fun experimentation.

Nozkowski notes that one of the keys to his paintings is to work quickly, and not get too bogged down in planning or process. The bite-sized nature of his paintings makes them enchanting without being overwhelming. 

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