Janice Geller: InHer Visions opening reception

“InHer Visions” is an intimate glimpse into artist Janice Geller’s inner world of dreams and awakenings of the unconscious. The show revolves around the processes she uses to create her paintings — creating art after exploring vivid dreams, inner meditations, authentic movement, active imagination, inner body states or the sumptuous allure of nature. At the exhibition visitors are invited to engage in interactive explorations of these themes and artworks. At the opening reception there will be mini performances inspired by the paintings.

The images range from whimsical and playful, calm and meditative to expressing conflicting emotions, weaving between reality, imaginary worlds and abstraction. In the lighthearted painting “Strange Bedfellows,” a door swings open to reveal an astonishing assembly of three figures from diverse backgrounds and their animal escorts. Unperturbed by the intrusion, they do not directly engage with the viewer who interrupts their private rendezvous. The portal is open in “Walking Into the Space Between” to an imagined Asian night ritual. The meditative “Circling Consciousness” depicts brilliant abstract shapes floating in a serene white space. Their gentle movement calms, and their intricate detail invites contemplation. The same hues and intricate brushwork of “Dragon Protector” symbolize the intensity of emotional conflict. The vibrant colors of the whimsical “Catching Flight” evoke a fantasy of reaching for a magical being, personifying the fleeting moments of mystical awareness.

Drawing on her background as an educator, writer, dancer and psychotherapist, Ms. Geller’s visualizations are stimulated by what matters to her in the outer world, topics of relationship, diversity, climate change and animal extinction. The paintings juxtapose people from different cultures, religious backgrounds, mythologies and races interacting with each other and spiritual beings, surfacing from the personal experience of traveling, teaching and working with diverse populations of people.

Janice Geller was born in New York City and currently exhibits her work at 375 Depot Street in the River Arts District of Asheville, NC. She enjoys exploring various mediums including acrylics, oils, watercolor inks, and collage elements. She has exhibited her work in shows in Durham, NC, Raleigh, NC, Amherst, MA, and SanFrancisco, CA. She studied art and architecture at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, and has a BA in architecture and dance from Bennington College, VT. She holds an MA in Dance/Movement Therapy and Integrative Counseling from California State University, Hayward, CA.