Girl on Canvas

GIRL ON CANVAS is an artbook project by Pola Dwurnik about painting and its reception. It explores an aspect of her paintings that is completely beyond the artist's control, the life of her works in the minds of viewers willing to actively engage with them. Over thirty different contributors have written about their intellectual and

emotional responses to Pola Dwurnik's paintings. The result is a brave, intimate collection of stories, a personal, roguish, subversive yet subtle riot.

'I have been amazed and thrilled to find that many visitors to my studio discover aspects and narratives in my paintings that are very different from what I had intended. Motivated by a desire to preserve some of these unusual interpretations, I decided to collect stories inspired by a selection of my works. For GIRL ON CANVAS I asked for contributions from my friends and artistic collaborators, people who think about the world much as I do and with whom I share a passion and respect for the art of painting. GIRL ON CANVAS is a collection of musings by people from various walks of life who hold different values and subscribe to a variety of worldviews. I made a deliberate decision not to invite other painters: their professional and technical perspectives merit a publication in its own right.

GIRL ON CANVAS is also a review of the first dozen or so years of my painting practice. Through the words of others, I see my work from a distance, which enables me to continue developing as an artist in a conscious and responsible way.' P.D.