Meet the Artist: Radoslaw Liwen

Tell us a little about you Radek.

I was born in Poland where I grew up in a post-Soviet reality of cultural and economic transformations in the 80s and 90s. That period had a significant impact on how I perceived the world around me. After studying Fine Arts with faculty in stone lithography at the University of Warmia and Mazury I moved to New York City and then to Edinburgh where I settled. Creating art in various mediums and forms through all that time was fun until the year 2015 when I took it more seriously and rented a space at 11D Studios. That year I presented my first series of paintings ‘Eighteen by Fourteen’. From that moment there was no turning back, solo exhibitions and participating in group shows in Scotland or overseas have become a beautiful routine I could only dream of.

What inspires you and how would you describe your style?

The principal source of inspiration is places and situations seen accidentally during the journeys I take, both everyday commuting and distant intercontinental. My paintings are very simple and at the same time complex in form. The possibility of combining them in a pattern by the disappearance and reappearance of elements suggests that the viewer can build their own story out of it.

Tell us a little about your design for caskshare.

Well, there are only two words to describe it: coincidence and destiny; the two opposites balancing each other like the imagery of my paintings. I was doing some work at Diageo’s laboratory building in Menstrie, overlooking their whisky archive when I received an email from Amy asking me if I wanted to design art for their upcoming release. Took me a good few moments until I realised what was happening. Soon after the idea for the artwork came intuitively as reminiscent of myself standing in front of the whisky archive’s never-ending cabinets which I was fortunate to see live a few years back. To convey that feeling of being mesmerised by the unknown of what is hiding inside every bottle I placed a man on the platform he knows well but still can be surprised by its unexpected reappearance through the fabric which I painted black to add mystery. He is wearing a coral sweater as a reference to the Caskshare branding palette.

What’s your process for creating a piece like this?

Preparing canvas by stretching, priming and painting gradients. The gradient stage can take from three to eight coats of acrylic paint. Then I can start planning which is the most time-consuming, as the composition of my paintings are quite minimalistic and each of the elements has to be exactly positioned. This can take days or even weeks until I will find that perfect symmetry, and for that,  I often use paper cutouts. Painting details are the last and quickest part of the process.

What’s next for you and how can people reach you?

Paint, paint and paint again and again! The easiest way to contact me is by website rliwen.com or reaching out through my social media channels.