Text by Joseph M. Schuster • Photography by Robin Stubbert

Surrounded by creativity (her father was a professor of architecture; her mother was a seamstress), it was inevitable that Magda Trzaski would become an artist. The only question was, what medium would she choose? In college, she studied photography and film. But it was a job in stop-motion animation that led to her current passion: three-dimensional, minimalist dreamscapes infused with surrealistic imagery. “I loved building tiny props, and I’ve always been interested in what goes on in our minds while we’re asleep. Suddenly it clicked that I could combine those things through art.”

(a) Magda cuddles her miniature dachshund, Walter. “He needed a big-sounding name because he’s so tiny.” (b) She created “Fruitless Daydream” from two of her favorite materials, a foam core box and a store-bought frame. She formed the figure from wire armature with a paper clay head. The clothing is vintage crepe paper. “I think Japanese papers have the best quality and texture.” (c) The small heads on her sketchbook are ornaments for a Halloween tree. “I love antique German Halloween ornaments! But they’re so expensive, I make my own.”

(d) Magda loves the airiness of her studio, built onto the back of the Toronto-area home she shares with her filmmaker husband. “It has amazing lighting, but it’s impossible to work there in the winter because it gets so cold.”

Originally published in the October/November 2007 issue

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