“Paintings and Collages” by Vivien Abrams Collens on Exhibit in Romano Gallery

	June 13, 2007

Recent large scale paintings and small collages by Vivien Abrams Collens are on exhibit in the Romano Gallery of Armstrong-Hipkins Center for the Arts now through April 26, with a closing reception on Sunday, April 27, 11-12:30 a.m. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and by appointment. For more information, call (908) 362-6121, ext. 5600.

An opening reception was held on March 27, with art students enjoying a special session with the artist beforehand. (See photos, including one with the artist and daughter Rachel Collens ’09.)

Collens, who is the mother of Stephanie ’05 and Rachel ’09, stated, “The purpose of planning this show was to challenge myself to produce a new body of work. This work began with the drawing process, with doodles and scribbles of spirals, circles, structures and geometric compositions, all elements I had used in earlier paintings. My reading material is about time, memory, brain functions and art criticism. The hardest part about creating these paintings is that to complete the painting, I must destroy a perfectly satisfactory, well-balanced geometric composition which is its foundation. The compositions of beams and arcs are compelling to create, but are boring, deadly and static when completed, and lack the dynamic qualities and ambiguities I like to see. I must then put on several more layers of paint and imagery to develop the depth I am seeking, sometimes leaving only a few slivers of the underpainting.”

She added, “The process involves many overlays of glazes. I enjoy using both large sweeping gestures and detailed, precise areas of paint. In these paintings, I have been experimenting with different forms of paint application, using non-traditional tools I have found or made. The integration of a complex surface created by various skills and procedures challenges me. These images evolve over time and refer to motion, energy, simultaneity and concepts of time.”

Her work has been exhibited at The Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art, The Phoenix Museum of Art, the Aldridge Museum of Contemporary Art, and various galleries in New York City and elsewhere.

Collens earned both a BFA and MFA and has received fellowships from MacDowell Colony and Yaddo, Bennington College (Bennington, Vermont). She has lectured around the country at such venues as Akron (Ohio) Art Institute; Guild of Artists and Artisans (Cleveland Heights); and Research Institute (Kansas City, Missouri), among many others.

Updated 3/30/08

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