ISCC Webinar - Andrew Reach presents "Color Equals Life"

Andrew Reach: Color is Life

My art is one of a perspective that is built of layers upon layers of inspiration, meaning, and life experiences. Color is a strong part of my life experience. Growing up in Miami, the tropical colors, from the hedge in my backyard of deep pink Hibiscus flowers to the azure blues of the Atlantic Ocean, to the coral reefs I scuba dove in the Florida Keys, the saturated colors seeped into me and never left.

My love of geometry and the art deco buildings in Miami were a strong pull on me and I knew by the time I was in my early teens, what I wanted to be; an architect. In my architecture studies, color was merely cursory, having been exposed to Joseph Albers from the Bauhaus and his book ‘Interaction of Color’. I would go on to use color in my architecture practice, somewhat limited on building exteriors and more on interiors projects I designed for offices for advertising agencies and film production companies. But the pursuit of color in these endeavors was limited in scope as opposed to a visual artist with freedom to explore more dynamic and expansive palettes. This would change when a spine disease and disability made the rigors of the profession untenable.

Andrew provided a detailed and fascinating extended abstract available here.

Bio:

From my early childhood in Miami, Florida, the tropical colors and shapes of the built environment resonated strongly, and I began to aspire to make my mark on the world around me. From the hedge in my backyard of deep pink Hibiscus flowers to the azure blues of the Atlantic Ocean, to the coral reefs I scuba dove in the Florida Keys, the saturated colors growing up in Miami seeped into me and never left. The tropical colors and shapes around me in the built environment resonated strongly – in particularly the shapes of the art deco buildings in Miami Beach. It became clear to me by the time I was a teenager that my calling would be architecture, where I could put my love for geometry into practice. And it would come to pass that geometry and color would play the central role in my creative process as a visual artist as well.

After earning a Bachelor of Design from the University of Florida and Bachelor of Architecture from Pratt Institute, I pursued my passion of becoming an architect. I went on to work in Los Angeles for 11 years on homes, offices and historic preservation and returned to Miami to work for the international architecture firm HOK on large scale projects, fulfilling my yearning to contribute to the built environment of my hometown. My role as project architect of the Frost Art Museum at Florida International University in Miami was one of the most meaningful, especially as it was the last project I worked on before a spine disease made the rigors of the profession untenable. If you would have asked me while working on the museum that I would return to it in a solo exhibition, FULL CIRCLE, I would have said that’s crazy, as my reinvention as an artist was yet untold.

Kneaded into these layers is my journey of healing. Beginning in early adolescence, I developed Scheuermann's disease, a curvature of the spine that continued to progress into adulthood and if left untreated, the continuing curvature would crush my internal organs. I began making art digitally after my second surgery in 2004, originally at the urging of my husband as a way of escaping from pain. I had no idea at the time that this initial foray into art making would become my new path forward in life.

I developed lengthy complications which forced me into long stretches of immobility. Though difficult, this stationary time allowed me to tap into my love of geometry and saturated tropical color palettes I grew up with in Miami and funnel my creative inspiration down a new path: artmaking. I turned to making drawings with digital tools as my escape hatch from pain. Pain became inspiration; Fuel for a fire.

Now, a resident of Cleveland for 17 years with my husband Bruce (together now 43 years), I feel connected to the cultural richness of the region, with creative talent that inspires me every day. I find my architectural roots pulsating stronger than every which I’m channeling in new creative avenues, most notably, using 3D virtual modeling in my quest to explore my passion of geometric form making while infusing these forms with vivid color. My work evolves swiftly, yet somehow time travels between the layers of my life as a thinker using imagination to channel the physical to the spiritual, and rushes forcibly into my foundational curiosity in seeking meaning out of the human condition.

My work has been exhibited in the United States in solo and group exhibitions. I feel it a privilege to have my work in private, corporate and institutional collections among them the Permanent Collection of the Frost Art Museum, University Hospitals Art Collection, Summa Health Healing Arts Collection and the Cleveland Clinic Art Collection. My work in public art includes a permanent installation at the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland, a 10 x 30 foot art wall for the Cleveland Public Library’s “SEE ALSO” public art initiative and most recently, in progress a 30 foot long 3d wall artwork for Case Western Reserve University’s School of Medicine Dental Clinic on Cleveland Clinic’s Education Campus.