Vian Borchert is an established expressionist artist. Borchert has exhibited in group and solo exhibitions within the US and internationally in museums and key galleries in major cities such as: NYC, LA, Washington DC, London and Berlin. Borchert’s artwork has been on display in prestigious venues such as Times Square on Broadway in NYC, United Nations in NYC, The National Liberty Museum in Philadelphia, The SAM museum in PA along with world embassies.

Vian is a Notable Alumni from the Corcoran College George Washington University. Borchert’s art has been vastly featured in press like Museum Week Magazine, Bold Journey Magazine, ShoutOut LA, Voyage LA, Collect Art Book, along being on the front covers of magazines such as French, Paris based ones like “ROIDX”, “MOEVIR”, and “Fienfh” fashion magazines. Borchert is also an educator teaching fine art classes to adults. Borchert’s art is at “Artsy” and “1stDibs” leading marketplaces with auctions.

---

Tell us more about yourself, especially the parts that are not so known from your online presence?

Ever since I was a young child, I had loved art. Art was within me since the beginning. It is almost as if the universe wanted me to be born an artist, and had placed in me this extraordinary talent. Throughout growing up, I didn’t understand why I was so different in this regard, why I was given this artistic gift that seemed rather impractical in the pragmatic real world. Yet, as I grew up I started seeing the benefits and the many reasons why it had to be this way. I started seeing that this talent wasn’t put in me to only help me but to also serve others as well. I was born in an art household where my mother and her side of the family did art for generations. My father is an art collector much like his father (my grandfather) who also collected art and was an archaeologist. Hence, the art bug so to speak was there from the beginning. For me, art and being creative came naturally much like talking, walking and eating. I’ve always enjoyed having a pencil or pen in hand and drawing away the day. I found art to be fascinating and a great source of comfort to retreat to as a child. Until today art serves as solace from everyday worries. As a child, I was very shy. I grew up in a rather traditional time. So, art was a way for me to self-express in a visual way without being verbal. Looking back, I feel that my love for art and creating artwork was a form of self-care and self-love in navigating choppy waters one faces throughout their journey. One can say, subconsciously art made the most sense since it was the proper tool to transform some of the “pain” I had buried within me throughout my life and turn it into “PAINtings”.

In general, I am rather humble, I stay low-key, and I try not to boast about my accomplishments. Besides being a professional visual artist for decades and an art educator of over 17 years, I am also an art writer. I’ve been writing about art since 2012.  As of late, I get invited by world-class museums and major institutions and corporations to cover their visiting exhibitions which makes me grateful that my voice and vision of what is going on in the contemporary art scene is being read, heard and appreciated.

---

Did you always know you would become an Artist? What influenced you to do it as a career?

Yes, I always knew I would become an artist, or do something creative within the arts. When I was a teenager though, the love for art did take a turn to wanting to become a fashion designer which is also artistic and illustrative oriented. Yet, as I got closer to the college level, I realized that visual art was my first passion, and hence pursued it in college and higher learning. Although as an adult, I do say there is more to me as a person beyond visual art. There are a multitude of layers within me. For example, I would have liked to have been a physician where that would have also worked well with my personality considering that the process of painting and creating an artwork for me is like dissecting. I approach creating an artwork in a scientific way as if the painting is on the operating table being operated upon. Beyond studying fine arts, I also sought degrees in Art Therapy and positive psychology to explore finding ways to self-care along spreading that knowledge to my students, community and beyond. I also did study cinema theory as well, and I find that cinema is a form of the moving visual arts. I do see myself leaping one day into the art of cinema and directing.

I was very much influenced by my environment. Since I was a talented child skilled in drawing and painting, this was very clear and apparent to the world around me that people would say, “you have to be an artist, becoming anything else is almost a crime in your case.” Thus, I took that to heart and followed through with an art education and art career.

---

Did you have any mentors in the industry when you first started? What was the best advice you’ve gotten around your art? 

I didn’t really have a mentor. I did grow up seeing my mother paint while listening to classical music such as Beethoven and Chopin. That visual memory is fondly being remembered as I speak. Moreover, I grew up in an art household where my parents took us to art exhibits and art talks where I would listen intently to art critique and lecturers alike. Later on, when I went to college (I am a graduate and “Notable Alumni” form the Corcoran College of Art and Design George Washington University), I did have encouraging teachers like the late professors Tom Green and William Christenberry who are renowned artists. Christenberry specifically, I remember would always pause by my easel when he made his rounds – He would look at my art admiring my abstracted style and he would say, “If  you continue doing this style, you’ll be somebody one day“. His encouragement and support to me as a young student had helped my confidence level which eventually led me to embrace the talents that I possess.

In general though, I do feel my road as an artist was mainly paved by my own self perseverance. Being a shy and quiet child, I resorted not only to creating art but to literature and reading a lot of the classics. I also kept a journal where I would write my poems and thoughts which helped me flow within the creative steps. To be frank, I do have to say some of the best advice I had in life are phrases from poems I stumbled upon through my deep dive into literature such as the poem “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes. The poem speaks about the encouragement of hope and to move forward in life despite the difficulties. Other writers like poet Mary Oliver’s “Wild Geese” comes to mind since its message infers that when you feel despair, look to nature, encapsulating the point that a return to nature is a return to the self. These lines within the poem are especially poignant: 

“Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting – over and over announcing your place in the family of things.

---

What has transformed inside of you as you went deeper into your art? 

Many things have transformed and evolved within me as I went deeper into my art. Being a person who is interested in not only creating artwork but the psychology of things brought me to understanding that the abstract art that I produce stems from my imagination which is within the subconscious. Thus, the deep dive of creating art for me is a gateway to learn more about my subconscious and the hidden mysteries it holds along with what seems to unfold as I create. In this I feel that through my abstraction, my subconscious comes alive allowing for infinite possibilities to make an appearance onto the canvas. 

Moreover, the onset of Covid had me reflecting on how I as an artist can grow strong through self-love and self-care by means of meditative practices. Hence, I sought meditation which opened up a world of possibilities cognitively to me. Meditation also helped build a bridge of connection to my creative brain tapping into my subconscious and its exploration. Consequently, through my own research and formative education along with the discoveries unraveling as I paint, the subconscious emerges and makes an appearance via the canvas. 

For me, creating artwork was never for just making pretty pictures, it was more of an extensive search into the unknown part of who we are (the subconscious) and its hidden alleys and corridors that get transmitted through the visual world. In such, I find myself to be a pioneer of tapping and connecting these two essential parts of who we are: the conscious brain along with the subconscious brain and their relationship through art creation. I would say, it took me years of producing artwork to come to such insightful discoveries that open up infinitesimal potentialities in the realms of cognitive abilities and its capabilities.

---

Tell us about the concepts of your pieces?

My paintings are expressionistic abstracted landscapes and seascapes along with skyscapes that present clouds. My work mainly represents what I love from the world around me, be it the big blue of the sea, the sky above with its playful clouds along with the sunsets and sunrises. The elements derived from nature all make an appearance in my work through an abstract minimal touch much true to my signature trademark and artistic identity. My work also represents my journeys and travels whether it be the facades of buildings in NYC, or the whimsical seascapes of voyages by the sea. Moreover, my main concept in my artwork is the capture of the poetics in nature through a contemplative dreamy take that strives to generate feelings of re-energy and rejuvenation. Furthermore, my paintings embody a sense of elevated elements through color and theme. Skyscapes within landscapes aim to elevate the viewer into a higher realm of consciousness along with attaining a sense of meditative enlightenment that transforms one towards a Zen state of peace and harmony.

---

---

Any upcoming galleries / shows?

Yes, currently for the Fall season, for the months of September and October I have a solo art exhibition in the DC/DMV area titled “Elevation” where I present my new paintings that encompass sky-scapes and landscapes that capture the essence of time, movement and memory in a lyrical and painterly way.

Also, now in the Fall and until December, I have been invited to be part of a group exhibition titled, “Undercurrent” at CCBC / College of Baltimore County / The Gallery Essex, where the focus is on the Chesapeake Bay and its surrounding waterways where the works underscore the ecology of the area with a mix of celebration and fear for its continued health.

Moreover, I have artwork in an international art exhibition at the BMFA Museum in Texas. Furthermore, starting around mid October, I am honored to have been selected to be in the “Art=Healing” exhibition which celebrates the career and life of legendary performance artist Linda Mary Montano and her guiding principle Art=Healing. The exhibition is in New York’s Hudson Valley area and will be in Saugerties, NY at the Lamb Center presented by Emerge Gallery and ShoutOut Saugerties where a number of processions, musical performances along with artists’ talks and events will take place throughout the duration of the exhibition. More about the exhibit visit: 

https://www.artsy.net/show/emerge-gallery-ny-art-equals-healing-inspired-by-linda-mary-montanos-life-in-art

For the upcoming year 2024, I will have a solo art exhibition in the prestigious and historic  “Arts Club of Washington DC” for the month of February.

In March 2024, I have been invited by a world-class museum in Spain to exhibit in an invitational international exhibition.

In the Summer, I am usually in NYC exhibiting with Lichtundfire gallery, the gallery that represents me in Manhattan, where one can make an appointment with the director to see my artwork at the gallery which is located in the Lower East Side. Here is a link to the exhibitions that I’ve been in with Lichutndfire: https://www.lichtundfire.com/tag/vian-borchert/

Also, one can see the artwork I have with Lichtundfire gallery at this link: https://artspaces.kunstmatrix.com/en/exhibition/10571739/paintings-at-lichtundfire-nyc

• My artwork is available and can be acquired via “1stDibs” and “Artsy” world leading marketplace with auctions.

Here is a link to my artwork at “1stDibs”:

https://www.1stdibs.com/creators/vian-borchert/art/

Here is a link to my artwork at “Artsy”:

https://www.artsy.net/artist/vian-borchert

---

Artist Statement:

I am an expressionist artist, I describe my artwork as a form of visual poetry. I believe art is a connecting force of good that goes beyond borders, instituting that art is a form of universal language by which all comprehend. I aim to connect with people through my visual world aspiring for the world to come together through the arts. Nature plays a huge part in my artistic journey. I am an avid nature lover where contemplating upon nature helps me reach inner peace and attain moments of Zen. In the abstracted seascapes, the intent is to celebrate my love for nature and the environment while highlighting the importance of nature in one’s lives. The artwork intends to be a bridge that intersects the connectivity of art and the environment emphasizing the importance of living with nature and its benefits on humans. The artwork showcases a sense of identity of who I am as an artist: my hopes, aspirations and dreams. Blue is my favorite color. Thus, the paintings allude to my fascination with water along presenting my love for the elements that give us the color blue such as the sky, the sea and components of blue in between. My paintings capture the essence of time, movement and memory in a lyrical and painterly way. Overall, my artwork is poetic in nature with a meditative take striving to generate feelings of re-energy, harmony and peace.