Reflections - The Creative Process of Children Mirrored into the Works of Paul Frank Wagner

Reflections Art has been a part of my life since I was a boy, introduced to me by my grandmother, who was an artist. Recently, I co-founded Hoopla Education in the pursuit of propagating creativity in education through sustainable means.

As an artist, I’ve always been interested in showing unity and expressing my truth through beauty. The ropes in my work represent the things that connect us to one another, and the metal frame captures it all.

Growing up in New York City in the late 70’s and 80’s, I was exposed to a lot of Modern and Contemporary Art giving me a deep appreciation for Visual Arts. By the time I was sixteen, I had developed a real passion for Conceptual Art and American Minimalism, which paved the path to my first art show of my Rope Paintings at NYU’s Broadway Windows in 2005.

In 2013, with the birth of my youngest son, I turned my attention to Arts Education, running creative workshops for teachers and activities with children, as I embarked on a journey around the world with my family. During this time, I’ve focused my artistic practice on ink drawings and process-driven works that are more freeform, mirroring our nomadic lifestyle.

I wrote Sticks & Stones Art Curriculum during our stay in Sardinia, to nurture in children an appreciation of the simple things using natural materials to make visual art. These activities are strongly influenced by Land Art, Conceptual Art, American Minimalism, and Arte Povera art movements, and were carefully curated to create unique projects that are more concerned with the process than the outputs.

Reflections documents the children’s creative processes proposed in Sticks & Stones and highlights the way their creative freedom is reflected and in my most recent work. We are all reflections of one another, linked by invisible ropes. Just as it’s hard to discern where Andy Goldsworthy’s arches of stone reflected in water begin or end, it’s hard to tell where one artist’s work ends and another begins: I like to think that my artwork has influenced the children’s creative expression, however Reflections is an acknowledgment of how the children’s creative process has great influence on me.