Baker Artist Portfolios

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JIM OPASIK's Head Series is based on imaginary subjects.

JIM OPASIK's Insect series is based on imaginary or realistic bugs.

Repurposed kitchen utensils are the domestic objects he uses to create his series of whimsical figurative sculpture. The assortment of implements used in every household for preparing meals is transformed so the viewer can experience them in a different way. Food for the eye, one might say. Opasik collects used kitchen and metallic objects from flea markets, thrift stores, sidewalk sales and donations from friends. Welding and riveting the repurposed utensils and metals are the primary means of joining the artwork.

JIM OPASIK's Insects are sculptures based on imaginary and realistic bugs. He researches each insect before he begins construction.

Before beginning the construction of the sculpture, JIM OPASIK researches each animal. His interest in the animal world is reflected in the form and content of his art.

With my background in nursing,  I became engrossed with SKELETONS and anatomy. I felt driven to create my own interpretation of the human framework using furniture parts, old bathtub legs and copper tubing. "Family Secrets" is based on my own life experience of adoption and reunion.

Reunion with my only child who I had to relinquish for adoption at birth, has led me into a visual journey of familial experiences we all can share. Symbolic of a former secret life and identity, I unite found objects into sculpture.

Inspired by personal experiences to guide my work, I create figurative assemblages out of found objects. My materials are mainly cast-off furniture parts, aged metals and old hardware found weathered in the woods. I construct my art using basic tools such as saw, hammer, rivet gun, sander, screw driver. Typically I will attach the pieces with bolts, rivets, screws, or nails,  but on occasion I will use a welder to fuse metals.

SPIRAL

This theme has evolved with me. I continually explore the form. The studies are of series of 100+. The double helix constructions are also a series of 100+. The form continues to engage and inform me with the new knowledge of Birkland currents double helixing in space and the work of plasma physicist Anthony Peratt. My newest compositions are plasmic, too.

Lately, I have been working on a series inspired by my interest in the ‘electric universe,‘ specifically, how the ancients used symbols and surmises to communicate for generational understanding of truths. I have been using a cache of prints, artifacts, and ink samples from my father to create these collage/paintings. These months of focus produced dozens of pieces evolving as they do with the possibilities acrylic medium offer -- painting layers of streaks of color with fragments of paper. This is a medium I began to explore in February ’12 and since.