Joan H. Ranzini to showcase art at Bridgewater College

Virginia abstract painter and collage artist Joan H. Ranzini will exhibit “Source Materials: Collage and Paintings” from Sept. 27 through Nov. 3 in the Beverly Perdue Art Gallery on the main floor of the John Kenny Forrer Learning Commons on the College’s campus.

The gallery is open from 7:30 a.m. to midnight Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and noon to midnight on Sunday. An opening reception will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 27, at the gallery, and Ranzini will give an artist’s talk that night at 5:30 p.m.

Ranzini’s exhibit of collage and paintings will offer a glimpse into her creative process. “Source Materials” refers to how Ranzini develops visual ideas by generating imagery through small collages, then transmits those ideas into large abstract paintings. The paintings, in turn, become new sources of inspiration.

“My work explores contrasting expressions of ‘restraint versus exuberance’ and ‘planning versus discovery,’ and the perennial question at heart is simple: How much is too much and how much is too little?,” Ranzini says in her artist’s statement. “In the end, this work represents the pure joy (and turmoil) of exploration and discovery. It’s up to the viewer to add any meaning, narrative or purpose. I admit only to enjoying being part of the process.”

Ranzini received her bachelor of arts in fine arts with an emphasis on architecture from the College of William and Mary and her master of architectural history from the University of Virginia. She has been in residency at the Virginia Center for Creative Arts and recently served as the juror for the Contemporary Women Artists of Virginia exhibit at the Shenandoah Valley Arts Center in Waynesboro, and for the 2019 Academy of Fine Arts National Juried Art exhibition at the Academy of Fine Arts in Lynchburg.

Both the exhibit and opening reception/artist’s talk at Bridgewater College are free and open to the public. In keeping with guidance from the CDC, Bridgewater requires that all individuals, regardless of vaccination status, properly wear face masks when indoors in public areas of campus.