COLOR IN GRIEF

A color in grief? My latest work continues this exploration, with this year’s work currently in progress but unfinished due to private health concerns. What you see then in my attached images is largely the underpainting of black and charcoal grey acrylic paint, waiting to be finished by the subtly of deep, dark, haunting colors.

My creative process remains the same, starting on black or white paper, ripped in half but not cut into a straight line because I want the edges to be rough and uneven. The image of a Mark Rothko painting on paper that hangs in a wall calendar near my bed is an inspiration. His painted edges are feathery, jagged. and adventurous. My intention, however, is to turn the paper into sculpture, which I do by applying many layers of acrylic gel. The paper thickens, gets heavier, and begins to curl its ripped, uneven edges. Once dry, I pick up a needle and thread, fancying myself as surgeon suturing back the rip as if it were an incision after surgery. I like sewing for its meditative presence, a therapy of sorts to mend and heal. And once dry, what had been paper is now sealed and ready for the glazing of transparent oil pigments, that will produce the subtle colors of black, black and blue, purple, red, and maybe white. tones that I hope contribute to the profundity of grief.

Bobby Vilinsky
Winner, 5th Year Program
School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston