罗安杰生于1986年，跨界艺术家，主要运用雕塑语言进行创作。他在费城长大，毕业于弗吉尼亚联邦大学雕塑和跨媒体专业，获得米勒斯维尔大学学士学位，正在芝加哥艺术学院攻读硕士学位。曾在卫斯理学院、格林内尔学院等大学工作，目前在加州弗雷斯诺生活，任职于加州州立大学弗雷斯诺分校。

在最近的作品中，我充满好奇心地观察平凡生活，特别是日常生活中常常被我们忽视的物品，以此探讨纪念主义、平庸的意义。在创作过程中，使用传统和当代的多种铸模技术，借助材料改变物品的形态。在作品中，我喜欢特意制造出短暂和永恒之间的对话。那些根植于历史和经济的工业材料，比如金属、玻璃、水泥和石膏，是我创作的灵魂，经过浇筑、组装、焊接和修饰，重量与平衡成为作品的一大主题。

独立映像：在你的艺术生涯中有哪些重要的节点？
罗安杰：读本科时，一位教授告诉我，“毕业后10年你才会创作出真正可以称之为艺术品的作品。”我当时没在意，只看成艺术学院精英的做派，故作高深，总喜欢向学生灌输思想，显得自己很智慧，在岁月中获得了许多体悟（或者只是黯然神伤）。然而，本科毕业10年后的今天，我发现这个说法还是有些道理（至少对我而言）。因为我可以自信地说，经历了多年的沉思和技艺打磨，我现在创作的作品是到目前为止最好的。

过去十年我在美国多所公立和私立大学的艺术学院工作。正因如此，有许多年我疏于自己的艺术创作，将工作重心放在教授学生上，没有为自己的艺术花费很多时间精力。艺术家会被周围的人影响和鼓励。四年前我有幸结识Ed Gillum，成为朋友和同事。这位一生致力于了艺术、了不起的艺术家再一次点燃了我的创作激情。我搬到加州和Ed一起工作后，我特别想创作一些更具挑战性的作品，他也在创作上给予我很大的支持。这几年我总在工作室忙碌，这样的工作节奏让我认定，是继续研究生学习的时候了。我申请了芝加哥艺术学院，获得了录取。完成艺术硕士的学习将是我人生另一个重要的里程碑。

2020年动荡不安，但在一所顶级艺术学院开始进修，对我是一件好事。虽然在芝加哥艺术学院学习的时间还不长，但很幸运地与一群出色的艺术家、诗人、音乐家、表演者共同工作，他们持续不断地帮助我提高艺术创作的内在修养。所以，我要说，在我的艺术生涯中，最重要的节点就是现在；十年间，现在是我工作室创作最忙碌紧张，成果丰硕的时刻。我把创作推回到铸造工厂，金属铸造成为重要的创作手法。雕塑专业本科毕业后，我的第一份工作是在艺术铸造厂铸造金属，为职业艺术家制作雕塑。为别人制作作品，那份工作艰苦而繁重；我没有创作自己的作品，对重复不断地制作别人的东西感到厌倦。十多年的金属铸造让我的技艺日臻成熟，在加州的铸造厂里我将其运用到自己的创作之中。

独立映像：面对当前的状况，你认为艺术能为我们的世界、社区或者家庭做些什么？
罗安杰：今年我们看到许多艺术界的常态被疫情打破。在线会议开办艺术家座谈，画廊通过虚拟展厅展示作品，画册以PDF格式发布。有人将这些视为正当的挑战，而我则认为在这个时代，作为一名视觉艺术家是令人兴奋的事。在这个社交媒体时代，你的作品可以通过强大的标签功能被分享、传播和发现。人际交往可以在数字平台进行，得益于科技加持，分享作品从未如此简单。我在加州的书桌上写下这些文字，与此同时，我想到来自重庆的某一个人，正在阅读这些文字的人。在特殊的时期，传播具有令人赞叹的力量。我认为，在当前的全球局势下，疫情迫使人们去观察周遭世界存在的直接挑战，以及如何看待它们，是个人和社区的发展障碍抑或发展可能。挑战本身就是一种创新的方式。因为科技，世界变得越来越小；我们以不同的方式沟通、体验和表达，而规则每天都在变化。放眼全球，隔离成为重要议题，而我知道，艺术创造并不在许多人的工作日程之上，但创新总是在的。创新帮助我们书写历史，开拓未知，创新在个体和集体中进行，人类为生存而创新。我想在这之后，我们会看到许多有意思的变化，旧的想法发生转变，试图在当代社会最前沿处找到立足点。受益于这个时代，属于这个时代，更为了明天的世界。

独立映像：2021年新的一年，你在艺术创作上有什么新计划吗？
​罗安杰：2021年我会完成一系列新作品，一切正按计划进行。铸造金属、石膏、水泥、玻璃等材料是一个漫长的过程，但这一过程对我的创作至关重要。2020年的最后几周，我从八月开始的九件作品进入了润饰程序。这几件作品从开始到结束，必须完成许多工序，包括档案记录。在创作过程中，新的灵感不断出现，我努力思考着新作品的方向，这些都将在新的一年继续下去。我已经开始另一组作品的铸模工作，同时为即将完成的作品做收尾和文档记录。还有另外六件作品，处于最后的阶段，我在给它们打磨抛光，档案记录工作将在接下来的一个月进行。工作室的一切繁忙而有序。我衷心地希望喜欢我作品的朋友们，可以关注我的Instagram账号（instagram.com/orloskistudio__），访问我的网站（www.andreworloski.com），我会不时更新作品。上周我增加了五件新作品，还将更新四件作品。许多人把2021年看作新的开始，我也是这么认为的。

Independent & Image Art Space: What are the critical milestones in your art career?

Andrew Orloski: When I was an undergraduate student one of my professors told me, “You only make your first real piece of artwork 10 years after you graduate from your undergrad.” At the time, I dismissed it as one of those highbrow, elitist art school tropes that people in higher education loved to pass off to their students thinking they are somehow so wise and enlightened in their age (or perhaps, just jaded). However, I am literally 10 years out of my undergraduate degree right now and I feel like perhaps this saying really did have some meaning (to me at least) after all, because I am very confident the work I am producing now is among some of my best, given the years of built up contemplations and perfecting of my skillsets.

For the last decade I have been working in art departments at public and private colleges across the United States. Because of this, my own studio practice sort of fell short for many years as I prioritized passing my knowledge off to students and did not bother to put much into my own efforts. Artists can really be influenced and driven by the peers they surround themselves with. Fortunately for me, the past four years I have been lucky enough to know and work alongside my friend and colleague, Ed Gillum, a fantastic lifelong artist who truly helped nurture my creative drive once again. Ever since moving to California and working alongside Ed, I feel the urge to make more challenging work and being in his company has really helped my practice considerably. The past few years I have been very busy in the studio, so I decided that given my pace during these times, maybe it would be best to finally pursue my masters degree. I decided to apply to the School of the Art Institute, Chicago and was accepted to their program. Getting my MFA will pose to be another important personal milestone.

2020 has certainly been turbulent, but one positive of this year is that I started advanced studies at a top institution in the nation for my terminal degree. In the short time I have been at SAIC I have been lucky enough to work with some incredible artists, poets, musicians, performers, etc. all of whom continue to help me hone in on the inner workings of my practice. So, I would say the most critical milestones in my art career are happening right now, in this very moment, as my current studio practice has been the most intensive and personally rewarding in over a decade. As far as process goes, my work has found itself situated back into the foundry, where metal casting has shown itself to be crucial to my practice. My first job after I graduated with a BFA in Sculpture, was working for a commercial fine art foundry, casting metals and fabricating pieces for professional artists. Beaten down by the arduous and tiring task of always making other peoples work for them, I did not make any of my own; I was simply so burned out from having to constantly process other peoples pieces. Now, with over a decade of experience in metal casting under my belt, my technical prowess has been fine tuned and I am utilizing my skills in our foundry in California to further my practice.

Independent & Image Art Space: In front of the current pandemic, how do you think art can do for our world, community or family?

Andrew Orloski: This year we have seen a lot of art world normalcies upended and turned on their head by the pandemic. Artist talks are now given via zoom, galleries are making 3d renderings of spaces to exhibit work digitally, catalogues are all in pdf format. Some see this as a rightful challenge, however I think that living in these times as a visual artist is down right exciting. In the age of social media, your work can be shared, distributed and discovered by the powerful use of a hashtag. Networking can be done through digital platforms and because of technology, sharing your work has never been easier. As I write this, I am ecstatic thinking about someone from Chongqing or beyond reading my words, as I write them at my desk in California. Distribution is an amazing force in these peculiar times. I feel that in our current global circumstances, this pandemic has forced people to look inward at what sort of direct challenges exist in the world around them; and how they can present themselves as either hurdles or possibilities, both personally and communally. This challenge in and of itself is a way to be creative. Because of technology, the world is growing to be a smaller place; we communicate, experience and express the world under different terms, who’s rules change on the daily. All across the globe, isolation has been a major theme during this pandemic and while I know art making may not be on the forefront of many people’s agenda, creativity certainly is. Creativity will help us write our history, creativity in the unknown, creativity in solitude and community, creativity in survival. I think we will see a lot of interesting shifts come from the aftermath of all of this, as old norms shift and attempt to find footing in the forefront of our contemporary society. One that we built out of this time, one of and for the future.

Independent & Image Art Space: In the new year of 2021, do you have any plan for your art creation?

Andrew Orloski: I am determined to finish dozens of new pieces in 2021 and am on track to do so. Casting metals, gypsums, concrete, glass, etc. is a lengthy process and these processes are vital to my practice. Just in the last few weeks of 2020, I was putting the final touches on nine new pieces that I have been working on since August. These pieces take a long time from start to finish given all of the steps required to complete them, including documentation. Throughout the process of creating these new works, I was constantly being inspired and thinking harder about new directions for my work, which is continuing on through this new year. I am already in the midst of starting new molds for another body of work, while also finalizing and documenting my last pieces that I’ve come to complete. On top of this, there are about six other works that are in the final stages of completion that I am in the middle of grinding, buffing and polishing, eventually documenting in the next month or so. It’s a very busy time in my studio. I would urge anyone interested in my work to follow along on my Instagram page (instagram.com/orloskistudio__) and also my website (www.andreworloski.com) as I will be constantly posting new things on these platforms. I just recently added five new pieces to my website last week, with four more to be updated very soon. Many people will look at 2021 as a fresh start, myself included.