Holly Boruck
AQ is our series of hardcover catalogs celebrating extraordinary women artists. Available on Amazon. Visit the AQ Catalog Webpage to learn more.
Holly Boruck, featured in AQ Volume VI, lives and works in the Los Angeles area. She has an MFA in Painting from Cal State University Northridge and a BFA from California College of the Arts in San Francisco. A common thread in her art-making practice is a deep interest in the human psyche and earthly experiences. She is interested in asking questions about the nature of reality and feels a tender sensitivity toward the outcast, shunned, and darker corners of who-we-are. She works in painting, drawing, and sculpture, feeling most comfortable making work with her hands.
Holly was a 2021 Luxembourg Art Prize finalist and was bestowed a Circle Arts Award, USA Projects Funding Grant for The Butterfly Hurricanes Project, a Durfee Grant, and a George Sugarman Grant. Her work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions locally and at international venues. From 2014–2018 she was the curator and director of Surrogate Gallery Projects (SGP), dedicated to facilitating fellowship between under-represented contemporary artists and under-used/empty commercial spaces in Pasadena. SGP won multiple grants and was a fiscally sponsored project under the Pasadena Arts Council's EMERGE program. Holly is an Adjunct Professor at Cal State University Northridge and is a faculty member in the LA-based Ryman Arts program.
www.hollyboruck.com
What inspired you to become an artist, and how did you decide to commit to this path?
I was encouraged from a young age and received positive feedback on my artwork. Looking back, there really wasn't a single decision to become a professional artist since inside me, I feel there was never a time when I was not an artist. At the risk of sounding overly idealistic, for me, being an artist isn't a choice, it's simply who I am.
Could you share the story or concept behind your recent work?
My recent work, Landscape Series, are oil paintings filled with lively colors, or that rejoice in subdued hues and calm meditations. Using abstraction, rhythm, and complicated shapes, I'm interested in creating harmony, balance, and emotional connections to a sense of place. My hope is that this series will create evocative pathways that take viewers on a magical journey.
What role does experimentation and exploration play in your artistic practice?
Experimentation and exploration are what keeps me inspired. I love to begin an artwork not knowing exactly where it will lead, what final image will emerge. There’re always some surprises.
What message do you hope your art conveys to the world?
I love hearing how people interpret and respond to my work. When creating an artwork, I have a plan, specific idea, or image, but it's fun and gratifying to hear how others respond, often clarifying my own thoughts and ideas. In the Landscape Series paintings, I hope to create dreamy worlds where imaginations can translate and inhabit environments of the viewer's own making.
Share a mantra or favorite quote that keeps you going.
I'd like to share a section of Leonard Cohen's lyrics from "Anthem":
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in
