Judy Riola
46 Waltham Street, Studio 204
"My newest body of work attempts to answer a question I’ve been asking myself for a long time: how specific a story do I want to tell? In my earlier paintings, forms had always hovered on the edge of recognizability. Often the narrative, such as it was, was visible only to me. But lately I’ve begun to feel an impulse toward story-telling, though ambiguity remains important to me. I want to suggest a story, but I also insist the viewer be invited to provide their own. Often my imagery conjures imaginary escape routes or solutions born of desperation. The cartoonish shapes and bright colors are a form of whistling in the dark, a way of warding off a deep pessimism about our earth’s fate."
Judy Riola is a graduate of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Vassar College. She was the recipient of a Traveling Scholarship from the Museum and a Massachusetts Cultural Council Finalist in painting. She’s shown at galleries in Boston, New York, and California, and was included in New England/New Talent at the Fitchburg Art Museum and the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s Artists Invitational Painting Exhibition. Her work is included in issue #148 of New American Paintings.
