ARTIST STATEMENT
My recent color palettes and compositions reflect my deep roots in New England. Dividing my time between Massachusetts and Maine, coast and lake, influences my marks, shapes and spaces, as did attending art school in the late 1970’s. My current work is informed by formal elements, the picture plane, movement and mark-making combined with a love of experimenting with materials, the unique qualities of paint, and balancing differences.
In my work I am exploring barriers, real and perceived, that keep me from soaring. By looking inward, facing fears and exploring them in paint I am finding ways to flip the conversation from a barrier to an entrance. I am dancing around the studio doing what I love while exploring, excavating and creating works that I am so excited about. Every day in the studio is like watching the tide come in and out. When it recedes nothing is the same. That is my daily practice.
These pieces use the sea as a metaphor. Watching the tumbling of the waves, tossing me around as I struggle to find my footing in my life and career. Seeing the golden lining in each step of the journey.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Paula Borsetti creates abstract paintings reflecting her love of family, friends and the nature of New England. She divides her time between Massachusetts and Maine. Working primarily in acrylic, she borrows colors, patterns, textures, forms and movement from nature to create richly layered paintings that evoke memories and moments.
Paula’s PALS series is inspired by the battle her friend recently lost against ALS. For this series she states “I am intrigued by words. I am currently using words describing Bobby’s experience with ALS as layers submerged in the paintings. I am rolling these thoughts and words around in paint and letting them lead the way to paintings that resonate with a sense of strength, hope, perseverance and life .” Paula’s series, Fear of Flying, is in direct response to loss. In this body of work, she dives into real and perceived barriers that keep her from moving forward, nurturing, healing, soaring. Moving paint around the surface, scraping, sanding, building, layering, drawing are all parts of her vocabulary expressing this particular moment in time leading to works that resonate with hope and joy.
Paula shows her work around New England and her work can be found at the Salted Cod Arthouse in Gloucester, MA. She is also a member artist with Women United Art Movement, The Visionary Art Collective and the Art Queens Society and Opulent Gallery and a signature member of the National Association of Women Artists as well as the Massachusetts chapter.
© Paula E Borsetti