In The Act of Living Painting

Paula Borsetti creates abstract paintings that are a story of her life, reflecting her love of family, friends and the natural environment of New England. Working primarily in acrylic, she borrows colors, patterns, textures, forms and movement to create layered paintings meant to evoke personal moments and narrative. Paula’s training began by working from the landscape. She fell in love with painting then and that continued through her formal education. Being an art educator fueled her desire to nurture and learn. She now maintains a full time studio practice and continues showing locally, nationally and online. Paula’s Coastal series is influenced by the natural environment of New England where she has always lived. She soaks in colors, sounds,textures, patterns, shapes and forms that she rearranges in her studio to recreate the essence of that moment. Her PALS series is a body of work inspired by the battle her friend's son recently lost against ALS. Diagnosed at 25 he fought valiantly for 9 ½ years. For this series she states “I am intrigued by words. I am currently using words describing Bobby’s experience with ALS as layers submerged in the paintings. I am rolling these thoughts and words around in paint and letting them lead the way to paintings that resonate with a sense of strength, hope, perseverance and life.” Even though Bobby lost his battle, Paula continues to use her art to advocate for awareness and a cure. Paula’s new work is in direct response to losing Bobby. While her PALS series will continue she is pursuing a personal body of work needed to nurture and heal. Moving paint around the surface, scraping, sanding, building, layering, drawing are all parts of the vocabulary to express this particular moment in time in a way that is both personal and universal.