RANDI RUSSO

Life Lines

Solo show at Thomas Masters Gallery, JAN 9 - FEB 8, 2015

Artist Statement for the exhibition:

This exhibition of my latest body of abstract work is called Life Lines for a number of reasons. To have the word LINES somewhere in the title was perfectly fitting because of the organic, gestural line work that distinguishes my painting. It is the natural ease of these lyrical lines that define my style. I often see biological themes magnified and abstracted in my works, as if I cannot pull myself away from what we’re made of.

But the title goes much deeper than that…

This past year, 2014, was a difficult one, starting off with my mother’s pancreatic cancer diagnosis followed by the death of a dear friend several months later. It is now a time for me to reaffirm LIFE, to consider what life means in the face of adversity; how it travels from innocence to experience, from joy to despair and back to joy again, from tragedy to defiance to victory.

As one of my favorite painters, Willem de Kooning, once said, “I paint the way I do because I can keep on putting more and more things in – like drama, pain, anger, love, a figure, a horse, my ideas of space. It doesn't matter if it differs from mine, as long as it comes from the painting, which has its own integrity and intensity.”

Also, this evening combines both my visual art and music. These two passions of mine have rescued me in times of need and provided a place of solace when things were difficult. They are a necessity, much like breathing is to me. Art and music are my life lines.

- Randi Russo

This show is dedicated to my mother Marlene and to my friend David Lang, whose love and devotion I am forever grateful.