VICTORIA J. FRY

ARTIST BIO

Victoria is a NY based painter, educator and founder of Visionary Art Collective. She was born in England and lived in Singapore as a child before moving to the United States. Victoria received her BFA from the School of Visual Arts in 2012 with a concentration in painting. After graduation, she was selected to be part of the Guggenheim Museum's Learning Through Art program, where she taught elementary students within the museum, as well as at PS.9 in Brooklyn, NY. In 2014, Victoria received her Masters of Arts in Teaching degree from Maine College of Art.

Victoria has taught in San Francisco, Oakland, and Los Angeles. She returned to New York in 2019 to continue her career as a painter and educator. Victoria has exhibited her work in Manhattan, Brooklyn, New Jersey, and California. When she’s not in the classroom, she can be found creating beeswax & oil paintings in her studio. Her work is about recreating experience and memory with a focus on landscape and depicting the natural world through an abstract lens.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Inspired by organic forms, my beeswax paintings embody the colors, textures, and movement of the natural world. Using wax, oil, and wood, I create abstract landscapes that capture the wildly unpredictable elements of nature and reflect fleeting moments of solace we experience when immersed in the great outdoors.

A wheat field blowing in the autumn wind, a lake overflowing under a summer storm; I channel these experiences as I set out to create my work. Both in their content, as well as the physical presence of each piece, I intend for my paintings to echo the sense of alchemy and mystery that one finds when wandering through a wooded forest. Moreover, I'm interested in creating polarities within my work; the contrast between light and dark, the heaviness of the wax and the delicate textures that are created, the conscious decisions that I make while surrendering to the unrestrained nature of this process.

The materials I use while creating a painting are equally as important to the completed work itself. The process of using beeswax is both spontaneous and intentional - often resulting in rhythmic, gestural strokes of color, as well as accidental marks that contribute to the overall composition. The poured wax creates a strong sense of visual movement and, in doing so, becomes the central focus of each painting. Layers of beeswax and oil paint are simultaneously built up and scraped back to create depth and texture. Utilizing palette knives, brushes, and various other tools, the wax is carved, scratched, and incised. I work back and forth between layers, adding and subtracting until the desired result is achieved.


Visionary Art Collective:

"I launched the Visionary Art Collective in 2020 with the goal of creating a space for artists and educators. I have balanced my art practice with teaching for 7 years and realized that so many of my fellow artist friends are also teachers. I have a passion for teaching my students about contemporary art and showing them work by artists who are living and working today and creating work in response to issues we collectively face as a society. However, since I began teaching, I've noticed there is a lack of educational resources for contemporary women artists, Black artists, and artists of color. With this platform, I am working to provide artists around the world with opportunities to showcase their work, while also creating high-quality educational resources for art educators. My future plans include expanding the education branch of this platform to foster a supportive community amongst educators. I am currently designing and scheduling online exhibits for next year with a few incredible curators. It's been incredible to see this platform grow so rapidly, and I can't wait to see how it evolves in the coming years!"

Website: www.victoriajfry.com
IG: @victoriajfry

Visionary Art Collective
Website: www.visionaryartcollective.com
IG: @visionaryartcollective