Eric Stefanski I'm Trying To Quit You For Sale

About this work

Eric Stefanski's "I'm Trying To Quit You" presents a raw declaration rendered in the artist's characteristic text-based approach, where language becomes both subject and surface. The phrase sprawls across the canvas with an urgency that suggests confession rather than composition, the words carrying the weight of countless unfinished goodbyes and failed resolutions. Stefanski's brushwork imbues each letter with physical presence—the paint application varies between thick, almost sculptural passages and thinner, more vulnerable areas where the ground breathes through, mirroring the push and pull of addiction, attachment, and the exhausting cycle of attempted severance. The work operates in the charged space between determination and defeat. There is no recipient named, no context given, which allows the statement to expand beyond romantic interpretation into territory that might encompass substances, habits, memories, or versions of oneself long outgrown. The word "trying" does all the heavy lifting here, acknowledging effort while simultaneously conceding ongoing failure. Stefanski transforms this admission into something monumental, granting dignity to the struggle itself rather than demanding resolution. Within his broader practice, this piece exemplifies Stefanski's commitment to treating words as emotional residue—artifacts of interior life made external and enduring. The intimate scale of twenty by sixteen inches creates a private encounter, as though stumbling upon someone's journal entry or bathroom mirror affirmation. The work demands proximity, honesty, and recognition. For acquisition inquiries regarding "I'm Trying To Quit You," please contact Guy Hepner gallery in New York.