Fredric Jay Witkin
A self-described, mostly self-taught, mildly (only artistically speaking, of course) apparently slightly imbalanced artist. Inspired by "things" that apparate from other things and fueled by an insatiable urge to create/decorate. Educated by trial and error.
Having participated in multiple juried art fairs and gallery shows "slips" are part of collections across the US and in France and Italy. They have won multiple awards.
He states he is still waiting by the phone for the Louvre to call; I introduce Fredric Witkin
As a Taurus (“they have a strong aesthetic taste, enjoying art, for which they may have a talent”) he may have been destined to have an artistic bent.
He has spent parts of his life drawing, painting; photographing and, as you see, sculpting.
Fredian Slips began with an encounter with a purchase in San Miguel de Allende (Mexico) of a small “chewed paper” rooster, made by a housemaid.
The paper poultry sat on a shelf for a few years until one day it reached out and grabbed him whispering “you can make things like me.” The resulting first work was a purely Papier-mâché Day of the Dead icon, fabricated on a second trip to San Miguel.
More recently though, his love for forms collided with the utilization of ceramics, resin, natural materials, found, made, etc to ring in the next evolution of his work. Mixed media creations that begin with a facsimile of a face and mature from there, sprouting parts in crawls and spurts.
These days, he is fixated on “Fredian Slips", widely mixed media escapees from the semi-sub conscious. “They start as a twinkling of an idea and then, to a large extent, build themselves out of ceramic, resin, and anything else available that seems appropriate." Sculptural objects, masks, and necklaces with pendants, there are paintings, 2D Mixed Media and photographs too.
All media and techniques are fair game. The artist does not take total responsibility (who does any more?) for these creations. As indicated by their name, they are, in large part, autonomic, created by themselves. They are a celebration of the eccentric.