Paul Chojnowski
I have been burning images into wood and paper as a means of drawing for over two decades. During that time I have continued refining and experimenting with the process. Using propane torches I burn, scorch, re-burn, sand and scratch the surface of paper or wood to create my drawings.
My current work, includes the ongoing Nocturne Series, inspired by walking at night in American cities; those drawings, primarily on paper, resemble soft focus sepia toned photographs. My most recent series of drawings began in early 2019 with my 12x12Project - creating twelve 12 inch square landscapes on Baltic Birch plywood, inspired by hiking and backcountry skiing in the in the local mountains. The latter is quite different from the former in regard to content, execution and appearance - from those dark, abstracted cityscapes, my current drawings are light filled, clearly rendered landscapes.
The burning process I use to make my drawings evolved differently for each series. Experimentation was and remains important to me and always informs the resulting image. In the case of the Nocturnes the image arose from intermixing water on the paper with the flame from a large industrial torch. With these new works, I’ve relied upon an accumulation of often calligraphic marks on the wood surface using the minuscule flame from a jeweler’s torch. The myriad of marks and the wood grain ca suggest the treetop leaves, the forest floor or drifting snow - in short, the illusion of space and light in the natural world.
When not in the studio, I split my time between trips to New York, Boston and rural New England where I live and work.

City
Burned paper
Country
The burning process I use to make these drawings evolved differently for each series. Experimentation (in both bodies of work) is always important to me and always informs the resulting image. In the case of the Nocturnes the image arose from intermixing water with the flame from a large industrial torch. With these new works, I’ve tried to create a visually stimulating accumulation of (often minuscule) marks on the wood surface using the tiny flame from a jeweler’s torch. I want the myriad of marks and the wood grain to suggest the treetop leaves, the forest floor or drifting snow - in short, the illusion of space and light in the natural world.
Heat Transfers 
Light Boxes 
Sold 
Resume
Solo Exhibitions
2020 Landscapes from the 12x12Project, George Billis Gallery, New York
2016 Infrastructure Series, Bright Ideas Brewing, North Adams, MA
2016 Paper, Plywood & Light, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY
2015 New & Selected Work, Gilchrist Museum of the Arts, Cumberland, MD
2013 Fire Drawings, James E. Winner Jr. Arts Culture Center, Sharon, PA
2012 NIGHT I LIGHT, James Gallery, Pittsburgh
2011 Searchlights & other works Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY
2008 Town and Country, Hubert Gallery, New York
Selected Work, Mason Murer Fine Art, Atlanta
2007 Natural and Unnatural Disasters, Kidder Smith Gallery, Boston
2005 More Pictures About Buildings and Food, Naoussa Gallery, Tyringham, MA
2004 New Work, Jeffrey Coploff Fine Art Ltd, New York
New Work, PLUM Gallery, Williamstown, MA
Nudes and Nocturnes, Smart Duval Gallery, Aspen
2003 Threadlines, Naoussa Gallery, Tyringham, MA collaborations Scott Sandell
2002 Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport Atrium Gallery
2001 Revealed by Fire, Bridgewater/Lustberg & Blumenfeld Gallery, New York
and Macon & Co. Fine Art, Atlanta
2000 Jan Cicero Gallery, Chicago
Spencertown Academy, Spencertown, NY
Macon & Co. Fine Art, Atlanta
1999 Bridgewater/Lustberg & Blumenfeld Gallery, New York
1997 Macon & Co. Fine Art, Atlanta
1996 Chattahoochee Valley Art Museum, LaGrange, GA
1995 AGIARY, Macon & Co. Fine Art, Atlanta, collaboration with Kevin Haller
Albany Museum of Art, Albany, GA, collaboration with Kevin Haller
1993 New Work, Macon & Co. Fine Art, Atlanta
Berkshire Artisans Gallery, Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, Pittsfield, MA
1991 Butters Gallery, Portland, OR
1989 Butters Gallery, Portland, OR
Group Exhibitions
2020 Drawing Discourse, Holden Gallery, University of North Carolina, Asheville
William Beckman, Juror
2019 Multiplicity, James Gallery, Pittsburgh
Massachusetts Cultural Council Drawing & Printmaking Fellowship Exhibition, T. B. A.
2018 Landscapes: Capturing the View, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY
2016 The 99 Cent Affordable Art Show, Gallery 51, North Adams, MA
IS 183 Faculty Show, Williamstown, MA
2015 WAVELENGTH: THE ART OF LIGHT, University of Arizona Art
Museum, Tucson, AZ
2015 Fresh Paint, Berkshire Artist Museum, North Adams, MA
Fence Select, Arts Center of the Capital District, Troy, NY
2015 CITYSCAPES, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY
2014 Figuring In, Rudd Art Museum, North Adams MA
2013 SUBurban, SMART CLOTHES Gallery, New York
illuminators, OK Harris Works of Art, New York
The Abstracted City, Hubert Gallery, New York
2012 WORKS ON PAPER, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY
2011 BLACK & WHITE, Dolby Chadwick Gallery, San Francisco
2010 Pulp Friction, James Gallery, Pittsburgh
Painted City, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY
2009 Great Pretenders: An Exhibit of Art Fakery, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson
2008 Turn and Burn, The Gilchrist Gallery, Cumberland, MD
2006 New Visions, The Harrison Gallery, Williamstown, MA
2005 NEW AMERICAN TALENT the twentieth exhibition, curated by Dan
Cameron, Arthouse, Austin, TX
Berkshire Biennale, The Contemporary Artists Center, North Adams, MA
The City, Contemporary View of the Built Environment, Lehman College,
Savoir Affair, Nemacolin Woodlands, Farmington, PA
Mapped, from here to there, Margaret Thatcher Projects, NY
2004Night New York, Elizabeth Harris Gallery, NY
UNnatural, Full Spectrum Gallery, Lakewood, NJ
2003 flicker, Jeffrey Coploff Fine Art, New York
FLORA, Plum Gallery, Williamstown, MA
Painted City, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY
2002 Hot Art: Burning Images, Paul Chojnowski, John Cage and Andrew Bennett
University of Arizona Museum of Art, Tucson
ON THE MOVE: Transportation Imagery in Art, Swan Coach Gallery,
Atlanta
FIREWORKS, 55 Mercer Gallery, New York
Fire, KGA Compound, Houston
2001 BURN: Artists Play with Fire, Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach
1999 Westside Inaugural Exhibition, Macon & Company Fine Art, Atlanta
1998 Ink Jet, Contemporary Artists Center, North Adams, MA
Earthly Visions, Jan Cicero Gallery, Chicago, IL
1998 National Juried Exhibition, No BIAS Gallery, Bennington, VT
1997 National Endowment for the Arts Visual Arts/Southern Arts Federation Fellowship Exhibition, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC
1997 New Artists, a baker’s dozen, Spazi Contemporary Art, Housatonic, MA
Naked Landscape, Spazi Contemporary Art, Housatonic, MA
New Prints, Jan Cicero Gallery, Chicago, IL
Berkshire Photography, Contemporary Artists Center, North Adams, MA
Figure 8, Spruill Center for the Arts, Atlanta
1996 17 Days of Olympic Art, Hartsfield International Airport, Atlanta
Texaco Olympic Art Exhibition, King Plow Art Center, Atlanta
1996 New American Talent, Austin Museum of Art, Austin, TX
New Prints, Jan Cicero Gallery, Chicago, IL
1995 Revival of the Figure, City Gallery East, Atlanta
Vantage Point-Abstraction, Jan Cicero Gallery, Chicago, IL
1994 Brenau University National Invitational, Gainesville, GA
Art in Motion, Richards and Westbrook Galleries, Georgia
Institute of Technology, Atlanta
1992 Printmakers, Jan Cicero Gallery, Chicago, IL
Works on Paper, Trinity Gallery, Atlanta, GA
1991 Naked People Show, 800 EAST, Atlanta, GA
LaGrange National XVI, Chattahoochee Valley Art Museum, LaGrange, GA
Dwight Merrimon Davidson Print Exhibition, Elon College, Elon, NC
1990 Artists in Georgia, Albany Museum of Art, Albany, GA
1987 eARTh, Novus Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Grants, Awards and Commissions
2020 Artist -in- Residence, Shenandoah National Park, Luray, Virginia
2018 Fellowship Recipient in Drawing, Massachusetts Cultural Council
The Four Seasons, four 60” x 40” panels in the lobby of Wyndham Bentley Brook, Hancock MA
2009 Work selected for the set of a feature film by Nancy Meyers
2006 Work selected for the set of No Reservations, a feature film by Scott Hicks
2004 Emerging Artist, selected for publication in Art & Antiques Magazine
1998 Artist’s Resource Trust, Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation
1996 Visual Art Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts and
the Southern Arts Federation
Award of Recognition, Contemporary Artists Center, North Adams, MA
17 Days of Olympic Art, City of Atlanta, Bureau of Cultural Affairs
1994 Alternate Visions, National Endowment for the Arts with funding from the Rockefeller and Andy Warhol Foundations
Individual Artist Grant, Georgia Council for the Arts.
Selected Corporate Collections
Wyndham Resorts, Hancock, MADelta Airlines, Atlanta
Merrill Lynch, Raleigh, NCTucker Wayne, Atlanta
Koloa Hawaii, Inc., Honolulu, HIClorox, Oakland, CA
Barnett Bank, Jacksonville, FLKing & Spalding, Atlanta
Saks Fifth Avenue of AmericaKilpatrick, Stockton, LLP, Atlanta
Landmarks Group, AtlantaJohnson & Higgins, Los Angeles
Littler Mendelson, San FranciscoJones, Day, Reavis & Pogue, Chicago
First National Bank of Sycamore, ILTektronix, Incorporated, Portland, OR
Gilreath & Associates, Nashville, TNBruce & Associates, San Francisco
Gipson, Hoffman & Pancione, L. A.Rock and Leitz, PC, Atlanta
Fannie Mae, AtlantaUnion Camp Corporation, Atlanta
Lewis Clark & Graham, AtlantaSietro, Woodland Hills, CA
Hunton and Williams, AtlantaShimizu, Incorporated, Atlanta
Snea Lauben, San FranciscoSouthernet, Atlanta
USAA Insurance Company, Tampa, FLIXIS Asset Management, Boston
Atlanta Gas Light Company, AtlantaHalstead Industries, Greensboro, NC
Spectrum Equity Investors, BostonWeil, Gotshal & Manges, Boston
Endurance Specialty InsuranceCaldwell, Heggie & Helton, Chattanooga
Hamilton, Bermuda
Selected Public Collections
University of Arizona Museum of Art, Tucson
Hartsfield International Airport, Atlanta
Education
B.A., Hobart College, Geneva, NY
Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City