Eric Stefanski I'm Trying For Sale

About this work

Eric Stefanski's "I'm Trying" presents the phrase as both confession and declaration, rendered in his characteristic hand-painted lettering against a printed surface. The work measures 35x24 inches, intimate enough to feel like a direct address, large enough to command attention from across the room. Stefanski's brushwork carries visible texture, each letter bearing the subtle irregularities of human effort—the slight variations in weight, the places where paint pools or thins. The oil medium marks a departure from his typical acrylic practice, lending the surface a luminosity and depth that feels appropriate for such a vulnerable statement. The emotional register operates in that uncomfortable space between exhaustion and perseverance. "I'm Trying" refuses the triumphalism of motivational language while also declining despair. It sits with the difficulty of effort itself, acknowledging that trying is sometimes all we have and that this might be enough, or might not be. Stefanski transforms what could be a throwaway phrase—something muttered in frustration or offered as apology—into something worthy of sustained attention. Within his broader practice, this work continues Stefanski's investigation of language as emotional residue. His text-based paintings treat words not as information but as feeling made visible, each piece functioning as a kind of verbal artifact pulled from the stream of contemporary experience. The simplicity is deceptive; these works ask us to slow down and sit with phrases we might otherwise let pass without notice. For acquisition inquiries, contact Guy Hepner gallery in New York.