Regina Loch-Elvert
As a child growing up in Europe I was exposed to fine art through museums and gallery exhibitions. The 16th Century Italian artist Michelangelo became my idol for many years. In my teens I was interested in the emotional expression of figures, sometimes deriving from literature as well as drama, and frequently studied the German Expressionist's paintings. I was always excited by the expression of color in painting.
I paint in order to better understand my world around me, a necessity and daily activity like any other daily activity; painting is also a physical activity. Today, my paintings derive from landscapes, a reflection of my love for nature and its beauty reflected in sunset scenes I frequently drew in my early childhood. The deep space landscape scene in the art of past century’s has always fascinated me with the longing of resting the eyes upon the horizon line. When first coming to the United States of America I was living in Hastings on Hudson, New York and discovered the Hudson River School.
My abstract paintings derive from Oregon landscape scene I painted for several years when living in Oregon. I am constantly searching while I am painting, trying to create a space that can be understood by itself, a visual order that creates a solution. Changes and repainting whole areas in the beginning and throughout the whole painting process are necessary to achieve the image that often surprises me and was not anticipated. I want to call my style abstract expressionistic.
I feel like an adventurer, a discoverer when I paint. I see my art as a search; a way of living and energy is the spiritual meaning of any kind of art. Spatial expressions in combination with figurative elements sometimes reminiscent of objects or figures. I am intrigued by the effect of light. I like the gestural quality of brushstrokes and spontaneity. I do not intend my paintings to be explained or analyzed, but to prefer to leave my paintings in an unfinished state,
expressing the possibility of change indefinite.
My most successful time as an artist was in Baton Rouge, Louisiana when I was a graduate student for three years. I was surrounded and supported by seven Visual Art Professors at the School of Art at the University of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. My landscape paintings deriving from my time in Oregon as an undergradute student turned abstract. This was my most creative time as a painter and a very happy time.
I recently moved to Richmond, Virginia, where I continue to paint in my studio. This new reality, living in a different part of the USA, another space with different light, colors and shapes, when I think of the city and the James River. My environment now has a dark, moody feeling to me which I try to translate into new paintings. The change is enormous and I am trying to find inspiration and therefore creativity. A new painting is in progress which reflects the colors of the downtown buildings and factory, decaying buildings in brown and red tones of color, overgrown with trees and shrubs, an image which I see on my way to my studio across the James River. It is going to take time and reflection, visible in my brushstrokes. A new beginning, which I do not know it will take my paintings.