Vildan Starr

Artist Statement

I make abstract paintings in acrylic without deciding in advance what the finished image will be. I painted landscapes for years before moving into abstraction, and now I have more freedom to follow an unexpected line, shape, or color and change direction as I work. The challenge is to keep that freedom while giving each painting enough structure to hold together.

I do not set out to paint a particular place or tell a story. Feelings, experiences, and memories of places I have been find their way in, and landscape often appears in forms that suggest water, branches, or distance. I may keep these forms, change them, or paint over them.

Before I begin, I take a few quiet minutes to clear my mind. Then I listen to music, which helps me begin with energy, and draw quickly in charcoal, graphite, crayon, or ink, using broad movements of my arm and body. Afterward, I work in quiet, adding and removing paint, drawing again, and responding to what I see. Parts of the first drawing remain visible in the finished painting; others disappear under later layers. Some canvases settle near landscape; others move farther from the recognizable.

I photograph the painting as it develops and view the images in black and white. This helps me judge the whole composition: how the shapes are arranged, how the eye moves, and how the light and dark areas relate.

I want the paintings to feel alive. I stop when the parts work together and I no longer want to make changes. Because the paintings do not show a specific place or story, each viewer can find something of their own in them. I want the work to carry energy, hope, and possibility.