Victoria Herrera
United States
Born in Panama City, Panama in 1964 with a passion for art from a very early age, Victoria Herrera entered her first group show at the age of fifteen and took private art classes while attending high school. She studied Fine Arts at Moore College of Art in Philadelphia and has studied with some of the most renowned contemporary realist artists such as Nelson Shanks, Jacob Collins, Steven Assael and Mark Tennant. In 2010, Victoria returned to school to complete a full time ~ four-year Classical Core Program at Water Street Atelier in NY. She is a realist artist who paints in a contemporary style yet her technique is highly rooted in techniques used by the Old Masters of the 16th ~ 19th Centuries.
She is well known for her portraits and very large botanical pieces where she strives for translucency and the effect that light and shadow play on the subject matter, not so much to contrast in value, but to indicate a need for balance and to describe how forces opposite in nature can complement each other and give rise to harmony and equilibrium. After a near death experience, symbolism and spirituality, more than pure esthetics, have played a very important role in Victoria's compositions. Her is work is often described and sensual, illuminating and ethereal.
Victoria’s work hangs at the Institute of Culture of Panama, she has been published multiple times and her work is collected internationally. She works and teaches privately from her home studio in Montclair, NJ.
Artist Statement
Acknowledging our common need for greater awareness, to observe more, to feel more, I intend that my work contribute to our collective awakening and counter the atmosphere of superficiality that prevails in a culture that accepts what is easy, celebrates the banal, forgets the past and is more connected to technology than “Self.”
I compose each painting with the hope that you, dear viewer, may find rest or pause for renewal and reflection in my creations. May the colors and interplay of light and shadow be restoring, energizing and bring you peace and joy. May the forms, symbolism and draftsmanship intrigue your curiosity about what inspires me and the sublime narratives in my work produce a desire to pause and reflect. I am just pointing the way to what is already there but so often missed.
While I enjoy covering a wide variety of subjects, what remains consistent throughout my work is a deep love and respect for beauty and nature. For me, painting is intuitive and highly symbolic, and the direction it takes each time I approach the canvas is often surprising, even
to me.
* This statement has been provided directly by the artist in association to their 14th International ARC Salon entries. This content has not been edited for typos or grammatical errors and has not been vetted for accuracy.
