Vija Celmins (Part 1 of 5, "Art:21")

Vija Celmins - My impression of her personality was that she seemed very abstract and scatterbrained. However, she seems to have a good work ethic. The painting of the stars is a project that she is determined to see through to the end until she is satsified with it. She has worked on it so many time, painting over it again and again, that she feels the work has its own memory. To Celmins, her job is building a painting. Every project is a significant undertaking. She seems to be guided by routine and repetetivity. She created several pieces that were inspired by waves, making the same general image, but with subtle differences in medium and finish. Featured below from the left are Untitled (Web 2), 2001, Web #1, 2001, and Untitled (Web), 2000. Note how she features the same topic in several images, while finding different ways to portray it each time.