Richard Moninski

Richard Moninski's New England Series is a product of his reflections on the natural and cultural history of New England. His paintings are a juxtaposition of various indigenous flora and fauna, portraits of seventeenth-century New Englanders, and stylized representations of plants taken from European decorative arts traditions. Moninski is strongly influenced by historic textiles and other decorative arts traditions, having studied surface design at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology. He paints directly on commercially printed fabrics (usually camouflage patterns) with acrylic, incorporating and modifying the existing printed designs. Raised in Massachusetts, Moninski earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and went on to earn a Master of Fine Arts in painting at the University at Albany, State University of New York. He lived in New York City, N.Y., for 16 years and researched folk textiles in Norway before moving to Wisconsin in early 2000. His paintings and drawings have been exhibited nationally. Awards include a grant from the American-Scandinavian Foundation for research in Norway, and artist residencies at the Vermont Studio Center, the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, and the Ragdale Foundation. He is currently a distinguished lecturer in the Department of Performing and Visual Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.