BORN TO PAINT
Artist and designer says she’s inspired by ‘endless enthusiasm for the beauty of life’
Vivian Reiss paints vibrant, large-scale, oil-on-canvas works.
That description also applies to the artist — she’s lived in yurts in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan; painted elephants in Africa and snow monkeys in Japan; and was invited to paint for the Echigo-Tsumari Triennale, the largest international art exhibition in Japan.
Reiss answers a few questions about her artistry:
Have you always been a painter?
I always say I came out of the womb with a paintbrush. Growing up in New York City, I had incredible cultural opportunities. So I did many artistic things. I studied acting at the Amer- ican Theatre Wing, which gives out the Tony Awards. I studied under Helen Menken — Humphrey Bogart’s first wife. She was very influential in my life.
I studied ballet at New York City’s ballet school under George Balanchine. I studied art at the Museum of Modern Art. I just drank in everything I could.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
It sounds cliché, but life. I think I have an endless enthusiasm for the beauty of life and the joy of life.
Do you have a favourite piece?
I don’t think I have a favourite. Usually, it is the piece you’re working on. You find new challenges and that’s what I love about painting: Every day, you can learn something new, go further, get better, have more understanding, better techniques, a better way of seeing things. The reason I didn’t become a dancer, which I was very serious about, was I felt that wasn’t something I could do for the rest of my life. But painting, I feel, is something I can do until the day I die.
How many paintings have you created?
Thousands, I would say.
Where have you exhibited your work?
Well, one of my favourite projects was when I was invited to the Echigo-Tsumari Triennale. I spent three months in a little tiny village with 188 inhabitants and they all had the same last name. I painted their portraits. I ended up doing 20 portraits.
How would you describe your art?
My object is to stimulate the intellect and the heart, and I do that through the motion in my paintings. They are very fluid, very influenced by dance . . . People have always told me my art makes them feel very joyous.