Mysterious Spaces Are Subject Of Artist’s Work;

Virginia Zic Will Be Next Painter Featured At Library

Paintings by the Newtown artist Virginia Zic will be on exhibit in the main floor gallery at Cyrenius Booth Library, 25 Main Street in Newtown, beginning April 17.

Admission to the exhibit of over 25 paintings is free and open to the public during library hours. An artist reception will be held on Sunday, April 17, from 2 to 4 pm. The show will then remain on view until May 20.

In “Earth Fragments,” her current series of watercolor “portraits” of the earth’s surface featured in this exhibition, rock layers become forms and spaces of harmonious color and strong value contrasts.

In many of her paintings, Ms Zic imagines the earth “opening up” to reveal dark shapes and patterns existing below the surface.  She describes her style as abstract realism. Ms Zic has been working on the “Earth Fragments” series for over five years.

Color and dramatic light energize Virginia Zic’s paintings. She leads the viewer’s eyes from large white or subtly colored areas to mysteriously dark and deep spaces formed between and among the rock layers. She brings harmony to the many varieties of shapes and sizes with lush color created through many washes. The paintings become quiet places revealing the overwhelming wonder and force of nature. 

Much of the inspiration for her work comes from her travels, locally or abroad. A visit to the Galapagos Islands where ancient primeval upheavals produced magnificent rock formations fueled her imagination.

More recently, a trip to the Dordogne Valley of France and visits to the caves inhabited by Cro-Magnon man suggested how vital the caves and rocks were for shelter and survival.

Ms Zic earned an MA in painting at Villa Schifanoia Graduate School of Fine Art in Florence, Italy, and an MFA from Syracuse University.

She is professor emerita in the department of art at Sacred Heart University. In her tenure at the university she established the department of art and design and taught a variety of courses in art history, fine arts and graphic design. She is a prize-winning artist and exhibits regularly throughout this region.

Newtown residents may also recognize her name from the Newtown Tercentennial Calendar. Her painting “Suncolor” was used for the February spread.