Local Artists Display Otherworldly Art

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Written by Jake Sidwell   

The free-spirited art of Virginia Phillips and Dr. Yueqi Zhang was on display at rTrail Collective Edge in Valpo. Though their paintings hung across the same wall, the two artists couldn't be further apart, artistically speaking.

Virginia, an impressionist inspired by German artist Konrad Juestel, promoted a new style of art that she calls "Serendipity" - a process in which you take a few strokes and begin to form images from imageless creation.

"All of these 'Serendipity' paintings started with my cleaning off the day's palette, coating a blank canvas with some color, any color, applied with abandon. I did not have any idea of any image. It is exciting to explore the result when the initial color has run wherever it wants to go and the paint has dried."

She said she allows the canvas to tell her where the paint should go and follows the freedom of accidental art and eventually decides whether or not to develop it further. Encouraging the renown of this style, she set up a corner of the shop for a collaborative serendipity project for anyone who wanted to try their hand. Influenced by Harriett Rex Smith an artist from Oregon, she began seriously pursuing painting in 1987, and now has her work as permanent collections throughout the world.

Dr. Yueqi Zhang is a multi-medium artist with a Master of Fine Arts in Graphic Design. Though graphic design was his major, it was not his passion, because you are normally creating what someone else wants and at the same time, having your creativity stifled. He believes in the communicative ability that art holds in that the interpretation can change from painting to painting, but also from person to person.

"In my art, I like to capture the sparkles of thought and eternally put crystallization of wisdom into painting frames. Art is not a means of decoration but a thoughtful declaration. Different mediums allow me to express different ideas."


He takes a more direct route in creating his masterpieces, pulling from memories, experiences and an empathetic sense that we're all invariably human, and therefore have the potential to create and properly experience art.


You can see their art at rTrail Collective Edge in Valpo on the north side of Lincolnway across from the courthouse.
 

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