Adriana Groza recently opened a one-person exhibit at Small World Coffee on Witherspoon Street in Princeton. In the following statement, the painter provides insight to who she is and how she works.
I am a Romanian- American visual artist. Born and raised in Transylvania, Romania, I moved to the United States many years ago and currently live and work in Hamilton, New Jersey. I create abstract paintings using fluid acrylics manipulated directly on the canvas by various means, without a brush.
My art is a means for my self-healing, introspection, and a way to reach into an understanding of time and matter. I step inside my studio, shedding the constraints of daily schedule and routine, with a deep confidence and trust in my process.
A blank stretched canvas, different color paints that I thin, with mediums, to a consistency of my liking, and several unconventional instruments and techniques for moving the paint around; these are my tools. I apply my foundation color, and then allow my feelings and imagination to wander free with the fluid pigments. I am not dominating or restricting.
The recurring views in my art most often connect to time and matter seen from antagonistic perspectives. It might be a timeless and calming beach scene where I capture the split and irreplicable moment of a foamy wave splashing the sands, or a snapshot in the fleeting existence of a flower or a creature.
At start, I might have had an idea or concept in mind; I might be preoccupied with my thoughts or just be present in the moment. Gradually, I find myself captivated with the flow that falls into place before me. There is no demanding or forcing, just freedom to be aware of the present moment, and evolve with it, disconnected from any pressures of the outside world.
Time suddenly loses its everyday life meaning and I invite the possibilities. I am unlocked to bring to light what arises on the canvas before me. In that sense, I am as much a spectator as a creator as my paintings take shape.
The realization of physical grounding in a space that has been here before me and will continue to live on after I am gone allows me to center myself in living precisely within that moment, and living it in its entirety.
My best works are active and imply movement across the space, or they emerge from, or descend into space for the observer.
Adriana Groza, Small World Coffee, 14 Witherspoon Street, Princeton. Now through August 3. For more information, go to www.smallworldcoffee.com/art-shows.
