Patricia C Vener, Artist Statements
I yearn for a world where no one is hungry, afraid, unloved, nor unfulfilled and my Jewish Culture obligates me to work for the betterment of our world. Through my art I provoke discourse, inspire awe, and drive positive change. But also, occasionally, make someone smile.
Three branches of my art practice respond to this imperative.
My fine art series, Tikkun Olam, Works for Peace spotlights the inhumanity of wars and conflicts
Shards of Shattered Dreams reveals heavy ruins rearing up out of bombed out destruction formed wholly by the swirling, skittering browns and greys of the foreground. A red cloth and broken bits of porcelain hint at a harried rush to escape. The whole scene recedes into a hazy dusk (or dawn).
While Tikkun Olam, Mismanaged Earth, focuses on the shortsighted catastrophe of climate change and resource mismanagement.
Tsunami depicts the mythical sea monster, Tohu V'Vohu, (taken from my Jewish creation mythos) being flung by a giant breaking wave. Scattered individual colors - blues, white, black - are shoved into one another, then pulled and pushed diagonally on the canvas, finally pirouetting into white speckles of "foam." The heavily bead woven monster hangs in the center by a thread.
The joy, renewal, and hope expressed by the third branch of my art practice balances the gravity of the other two branches. With these works my love of bright color and ornate embellishment appears center stage. This branch includes the series, Tikkun Olam: Offering Respite as well as the works that elicit smiles.
The sweeping rich colors of the spinning dancer in I Can Dance If I Want (to) contrast with the stiff posing of the frigid backgrounds. In L'Chaim, pen and ink bursts riotously from an imagined goblet. Finally, Intergalactic Fugue is a chorus of bead weaving techniques moving together to become a visionary reflection of personal decoration.
Autobiographical Notes
My life, I think, has taken some odd and interesting turns as it meanders through time. So much so that I have two Curriculum Vitae and could probably have at least one more. I am a dancer, an artist; have been an astrophysicist, an entrepreneur, and was primary family caregiver for my mother for 10 and a half years when she had Alzheimer's Disease. All of my experiences, professional and personal, as well as my emotions and philosophies influence my resulting art works
I am occasionally brilliant, generally creative, inquisitive, passionate, and shy. My math is correct when it balances and my days of the week are in color.
I am presently located in Hamden CT, a town not far from the best pizza anywhere (New Haven, CT).