Judy Riola
Venice, FL / Boston
Website
www.judyriola.com
How would you describe your work?
The characters in my paintings are living in a post-human world, inhabiting a space at once familiar and oddly foreign. The usual order of things is out of whack; sofas and woods and gorillas are all on the same plane. At first glance, there seems to be an innocence. That perception is quickly upended by the uncanny and the strange.
In this new environment, animals have formed unlikely alliances and have become guardians and caretakers for each other.
Nature itself is a kind of protagonist, not just a passive background. The landscape is on the verge of falling apart as the characters merge in and out of it.
My titles are purely descriptive, giving the viewer an entry into the paintings, but I try to let ambiguity and mystery take central stage.
What inspires you?
Nature in all its forms: gators right next to the house, whistling ducks trying to stand upright on the telephone wires, clouds that look like grizzly bears.
Can you speak about your process?
I start by painting a quick landscape or other photo from my phone, just to have something to react to. (I never have a preconceived idea.) I then scrape it all off, and start to see what is “there.” As shapes start to suggest themselves, I go along with the program, trying to stay open to whatever it might be. This is the important part: no censoring! The initial ideas that come to me almost never make it to the final stage, and that’s the tricky part. I have to be willing to obliterate something I’m really attached to if I determine it just isn’t working.
How did you become interested in art?
Unlike most artists, I did not start as a kid. Our tiny school in upstate New York did not have art classes beyond the sixth grade. I was working as a video producer in television when it seemed to me that the graphic designers were having more fun. I started taking design courses at night and once in the art school environment, realized I really wanted to be a painter.
Do you have any favorite artists, movies, books, or quotes?
Current favorite artists: Dana Schutz, Seth Becker, Hannah van Bart, Christina Forrer, Joseph Olisaemeka Wilson Book I’m currently reading: “Never a Joiner” Andrew Cranston
Quote: “I don’t paint what I look at, but what looks at me.”
-Francoise Gilot
What advice do you have for younger artists?
Take your work seriously. Make time for it. Love it and have faith that it loves you back. Stop censoring yourself and let fly!
Any more thoughts about art, creativity, or anything else you would like to share?
I’d like to give a shout-out to NYC Crit Club and The Canopy Program, its year-long mentorship program. A few years ago I felt that my work could be stronger, but I just didn’t know how to get there. I started with a couple of individual classes, then joined the Canopy Program. With the knowledge and encouragement I received from my mentors and fellow students, I feel that the work I’m making now is genuinely authentic to me.
