
Paintings
75 works

Selection
Eric Stefanski's "Selection" exemplifies the artist's distinctive approach to text-based painting, where language becomes both subject and substance on the canvas surface. Rendered in acrylic, the work transforms written words into visual architecture, layering typography in ways that oscillate between legibility and abstraction. The composition builds through accumulation—letters and phrases overlap, fade, and resurface, creating a palimpsest effect that suggests memory, revision, and the half-buried thoughts that linger at the edges of consciousness. The emotional register of "Selection" operates in that charged space between communication and obscurity. Stefanski treats words not as vehicles for straightforward meaning but as carriers of emotional residue, artifacts of feeling that persist even when their original context has dissolved. There is something deeply human in this approach—the way certain phrases attach themselves to us, repeat in our minds, become worn smooth through internal repetition. The mixed media elements add textural complexity, introducing physicality that grounds the cerebral act of reading in bodily experience. Within Stefanski's broader practice, "Selection" demonstrates his ongoing investigation into how we process and internalize language. His canvases function as archaeological sites where the strata of thought become visible, inviting viewers to excavate their own associations from the layered text. The title itself suggests curation, choice, the deliberate act of pulling certain words from the infinite stream of language—an apt metaphor for how we construct meaning from chaos. For inquiries regarding the acquisition of "Selection" by Eric Stefanski, please contact Guy Hepner gallery in New York.


Eric Stefanski is a Chicago based artist known for large scale abstract paintings that incorporate bold, handwritten text. He studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and earned his MFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in 2015.
Stefanski's work merges expressive mark making with direct, often humorous or self-deprecating phrases, using language as a way into larger themes around vulnerability, failure, and the pressures of maintaining a creative practice. His large-scale canvases favor vibrant color and bold lettering, with text functioning less as slogan and more as fragments of internal dialogue, blending humor with genuine emotional weight. Through this approach, Stefanski examines what it means to sustain a life as a working artist, treating uncertainty and contradiction as part of the process rather than something to resolve.
His work has been shown extensively in Chicago and Boston, along with solo exhibitions in cities including Tokyo and Madrid, and has continued to expand into galleries and institutions internationally.
He continues to live and work in Chicago.
Guy Hepner works with collectors seeking Eric Stefanski's bold, text-driven abstract paintings. Contact us to discuss available inventory or to inquire about upcoming releases.