About the Artist

John Marak is a second-generation artist based in Kansas City, Missouri. He worked as a graphic designer for 35 years and has been painting and sculpting for the past 15 years. He uses metal, plaster, cement, and sometimes glue in his work. His sculptural paintings are inspired by how nature transforms surfaces, colors, and forms capturing a sense of history and the passing of time. John's aesthetic is influenced by Wabi-sabi, a Japanese worldview centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete." Wabi connotes rustic simplicity, freshness, or quietness. It can also refer to quirks and anomalies arising from the process of construction, which add uniqueness and elegance to an object. Sabi is beauty or serenity that comes with age when the life of the object and its impermanence are evidenced in its patina and wear.