Bobby Vilinsky

THE COLOR OF GRIEF
Is there a color for grief? Most likely, if there is, mine is different from yours. In my newest work, I’ve come up with several possibilities. Black, black and blue, purple, and maybe white.

This year’s work starts on black 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 for the glazing of transparent oil pigments, to produce the subtle colors of black, black and blue, purple, and maybe white, colors of grief that might or might not be like yours.

Bobby Vilinsky
2024 Winner, 5th Year Program
School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston