Vian Borchert

Interview with artist Vian Borchert –

1. Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Vian Borchert. I am an expressionist artist and painter. I define my artwork as visual poems. I create paintings and works of art that are based on my vision, life and adventures while allowing my imagination to come through with the creative process.

“Over Seas”

2. Why art?
Art for me is like my first language. You see, I was born into an art household. Art runs in my blood and veins. Art for me is as natural as talking, walking and eating. I was born with this gift. Art chose me, and in return I have embraced my natural talent and harnessed my skills by furthering my artistic ability through art education and beyond.

3. What is your earliest memory of wanting to be an artist?
As far as I can remember, I remember myself sitting quietly at a table making drawings that later became comics accompanied with short stories. Back in elementary school, my friends and schoolmates would line up so I could make them each a drawing of their favorite anime character. I was a shy and quiet child, art for me was a refuge and solace from the world and its noise. Art still remains till this day my sanctuary! I always knew that I was an artist. The feeling came so naturally. It wasn’t even a choice and there was no second guessing it. I knew from the start that I am a creative individual, and I want to grow up to be an artist.

Spectrum

4. What are your favorite subject(s) and media(s)?
My favorite subject is the natural world. Although I don’t make a traditional depiction of it. I transform what I see and my environment into my own artistic visual language through my abstracted minimal aesthetics and style. I have many favorite mediums. Yet, most of my works on canvas are done in the Acrylic medium. I worked exclusively with oil paint at an earlier stage in my art career. I love each art medium and they are all so different and have so much to offer visually and stylistically. In general though, I am a painter and lover of brushes and thick paint strokes and strong gestural energetic work that is delivered through brush work. I am the type of artist that likes to see the artist’s hand at work visible in the artwork. Thus, I personally love to have these attributes and painterly elements reflected in my paintings.

“Misty Waves”

5. How do you work and approach your subject?
Very feverish! I approach my work and subject matters feverishly and seriously, although I do not overlook having fun and enjoying the work process. Usually, I work on multiple paintings at a time. Sometimes the work continues the whole day without a break until I cannot do it anymore. The work can also continue for days or even weeks until I deem the work  satisfactory and ready to be presented to the world. In general, it is a work flow process from one painting into another. I like to make works that fall in a series or a collection. I usually have a specific idea or subject matter in mind that I head out to execute. To illustrate, my latest “Lavender Fields Paintings Series” done recently in June 2021 were especially made for the current ongoing “In Full Bloom” art exhibition in Manhattan, NYC at Lichtundfire for this Summer 2021.

“Distant Lavender Fields”

6. What are your favorite art work(s), artist(s)?
So many – Here are some:
“Attersee” and most of Gustav Klimt’s landscapes
“Painter’s Wife, Seated” by Egon Schiele
Tony Capellán, “Mar Caribe” Installation
“Port of Entry” by Robert Rauschenberg
“Orange and Black Wall” by Franz Kline
“The Laundress” by Henri De Toulouse Lautrec
“Banana” by Andy Warhol
“David” and “The Creation of Adam”, The Sistine Chapel Ceiling by Michelangelo
“The Sacrament of the Last Supper” by Salvador Dali
“The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer” statue by Edgar Degas
“A Bigger Splash” by David Hockney
“Spider” sculpture by Louise Bourgeois
“Ocean Park” paintings’ series by Richard Diebenkorn
“Salvator Mundi” by Leonardo da Vinci
The Anselm Kiefer landscapes in watercolour such as “The Evenings of All Days, The Day of All Evenings” (aller Tage Abend, aller Abende Tag).
“Water Lillies” by Claude Monet.
“Whistler’s Mother, Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1” by James McNeill Whistler

“Highway”

7. What are the best responses you have had to your work?
So many wonderful responses, comments and observations throughout my art career and at art receptions and exhibitions. One physician who saw my work on exhibit at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington DC and eventually became an art collector told me that she could write poetry about my artwork. Other people have commented that the artwork transports them to a place where they can find peace and rejuvenation as if they are on vacation. I’ve seen strangers become friends over discussing a work of art of mine at an exhibition. As an artist, I welcome the viewer’s interpretations since I am all for the awakening of the imagination that occurs upon viewing skillful works of art which moves people.

“Lavender Waves”

8. What do you like about your work?
Interesting question! At this point in my career, I only do work that I like. I like that my artwork brings me to see my subconscious and what lies in areas that the cognitive conscious mind cannot see nor verbalize. Thus, I feel that my work bridges a connection between the subconscious and the conscious mind, the visible and the invisible. Hence, I truly feel that my subconscious becomes alive and the work turns into a portal to connect me to my inner soul and higher creative realm and beyond.

“Scattered Waves”

9. What advice would you give to other artists?
The advice that I give to other artists is to stay true to yourself and discover your own vision and voice through your own art creation and path. Also, as an art educator, I advise all budding artists to go to art school and enjoy the educational process that a university offers. Moreover, besides the utter importance of art education, seek to make the art that makes you happy. For example, if you are into illustrating animals, stay the course, don’t’ follow trends just because you think people want to see a specific genre or style. Bottom line, take the time through art education and art making to discover yourself and your vision. Don’t be distracted by social media’s art trends and its constant noise. Be honest with yourself and your own path. As an art observer, in our current time, I see so many emerging artists who jump in the game just to make money or copy the latest trending art look until another trend comes along, and so on and so forth – their identity and vision never comes through. By following the trends they will not discover their own artistic vision. After all, what is art but a form of self expression. So, if they end up recreating trends they miss out on expressing themselves, and they simply redo the expressions and visions of other artists. Hence, their growth as an artist does not occur.

To conclude, not everyone born into this world is going to be an artist. The point is to allow yourself through the formative years and through art education to discover who you are, and from that point grow in the right direction. Don’t be hasty. Nowadays, beginner artists who held a brush for the first time just a few months ago, or threw a bucket of paint on a piece of canvas want to be on the same level as an accomplished artist who has been creating art for decades. Maybe it’s the pressure of social media – yet, in general skipping formal art education and taking the short road does show in the work presented and eventually will not lead to a good destination. Therefore, my advice first and foremost, is to do art because you love it.

“Cloud Reflection”

10. Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years?
In 5-10 years I see myself exhibiting at The Whitney Museum of Art in NYC, and also at the MoMA in NYC as well. I would like to be showing at modern art world museums such as Le Centre Pompidou in Paris and Tate Modern in London. Moreover, I see my art exhibited at The Venice Biennale in the near future. I can’t help it, I am a dreamer; and sometimes dreams do come true.
 

Vian Borchert

LINKS –

 
Website:  www.vianborchert.com
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/VianBorchertFineArts/
Twitter Link:  https://twitter.com/ViansArtCorner
Instagram:  @vianborchert
YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slXuI4SLdRY
E-mail Contact: info@vianborchert.com