Stephen Wozniak
Colonial Square Circling The Wagons
2022
Pine wood, MDF, acrylic paint
16” Diameter

Colonial Square Circling The Wagons refers to the moral quandary that Colonialism has left descendants of early American settlers who escaped religious and economic oppression but subjugated natives in new lands to establish their freedom and stake their claim. It also refers to the parallel representation and break from Colonial design tradition over time.

To “square the circle” is to do something that is considered impossible.

In its literal sense, square the circle means to ‘construct a square equal in area to a given circle’. Since this problem is incapable of a purely geometrical solution, the phrase has developed a more general application and is used to refer to an attempt to do something impossible.

Nothing is impossible. Something is always possible.

Colonial Square Circling The Wagons was exhibited in the exhibition This is the Future of Non-Objective Art at Atlantic Gallery in New York City from February 13 – March 2, 2024.

“One unusual piece in the show was the austere and elegant all-white wall work Colonial Square Circling the Wagons by Stephen Wozniak. The title refers to American colonialism, as well as to the circular wagon train formation westward-bound pioneers would often make to defend themselves against the attacks of Native Americans. While American colonists left Europe to escape persecution, secure resources and find a new home, they also created wars, spread deadly illnesses, massacred and displaced indigenous peoples. After looking carefully at the piece, I realized that its “square” elements were made of common colonial door molding juxtaposed over a perfect, redemptive, eternal circle. It’s as if the artist wanted to subvert that tradition of the pervasive interior design style, as much as the conflicted domination or control that, in part, makes up colonialism. The piece floats off of the wall—somewhere between the two-dimensional and three-dimensional, between idea and tangible proactive reality. While looking at the work, I kept thinking about the idiom “You make a better door than a window.” The piece is almost like a gateway or portal to review many of the artist’s ideas like both a door and a window—a real place—something to physically open with action but also to see into and contemplate. “

– Martha Colburn, Whitehot Magazine of Contemporary Art, March 8, 2024