The Campus

Issue date: 11/23/05 Section: Arts/Culture

VARGA Triptych [Click to enlarge]

A few years of gallery hopping in the New York City "art scene" can leave one feeling a bit cold and weary. After too many instances of peeking in on exhibits only to find semi-pornographic, stupendously violent or horrifically boring art, eyes begin to automatically glaze over at the words "opening reception."

By some miracle, icicle hearts thaw in the face of the breathtaking sincerity of the VARGA Triptych. The lavishly hued life-sized mosaics of religious figures leave the jaded reborn and begging for more life-giving inspiration. Varga, a Hungarian artist, attributes the impulse to express these universal icons in a neo-Byzantine style to intense childhood recollections of cathedrals in Budapest where her grandmother took her to seek sanctuary from political and domestic turmoil. In her gallery on Tinker St in Woodstock, NY, Christina Varga described the nurturing experiences that led her to create these unequaled works of art.



Kenya Mitchell: How long have you been in Woodstock?

Christina Varga: I moved all my stuff here 3 weeks after I visited for the first time. That was the end of 2002, around November. I went home to Florida for the holidays and then drove back up to Woodstock in a car my mom gave me. I was a vehicle-less New Yorker for 8 years, but finally couldn't stand the sirens any longer. I needed fresh air, trees, water.

KM: What inspired you to become an artist?

CV: My first spark of determination happened in 1996 at Lee's Art Supply on 57th Street in NYC. I was fueled by the derision of an art store sales clerk.

KM: What was your first artistic experience?

CV: I can remember the first grade which I attended in Hungary and little rolls of modeling clay that were somehow part of the curriculum, high school art class in Zephyrhills, FL, summers in Hungary with paints and red clay, sketches and drawings and little things all through my life. My first sale was at NV/289 in NYC during the summer of 1998. It was the first time I had sold anything.

KM: Have people encouraged you in your art?

CV: As an artist - YES! Almost always people have nice things to say about the work I do. Sometimes a series - for instance my glitter series - doesn't appeal to all, but I always push through the artwork that is coming out of my hands and reach for the next session.

Continued...

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