Jarek Sparaco

About the Artist

Jarek Sparaco was born in Daytona Beach, Florida in 1995. He attended Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) and recieved his BFA in General Fine Arts in 2017. He has taken classes for a wide variety of media, including clay, bookmaking, and glassblowing.  Over the course of his career at MICA, Jarek has received several awards for his artistic merit, such as the Joseph Padgett Memorial Scholarship and the General Fine Arts Departmental Recognition Award. He has also exhibited his work in group and solo shows at MICA, The Boys’ Latin School of Maryland, and the Jewish Community Center of Greater Baltimore. Jarek Sparaco currently resides in Baltimore, Maryland.   

Artist's Statement

Accumulation and process are key to my pattern-based work of marks and cut paper lines that by themselves are indistinguishable, yet in combination create a captivating image. Individual marks are repeated hundreds of times to highlight each one as a separate step taken towards the end product. I also create collage works of repeated mark-making on magazine and other printed imagery. The layers of erasing and redrawing distorts the already fragmented compositions, resulting in a new one taking shape. After the marks are finished, I cut the piece into strips and curve them out to various degrees. The bending adds vibration to the works that allows for different readings up close and from a distance. Each piece is unique because the marks are done by hand instead of digitally, so human error plays a large part in their creation. An active state of patience is also important because the patterns form from line drawing and measurements. Everything must be considered before performing an action or the entire design could be compromised.