Artist’s ‘Rainy Day Women’ has a few more days in Winnetka gallery

At first glance, the characters in artist Meghan Borah’s exhibit in Winnetka are emotionless. Borah paints them that way for a reason, and she wants you to take it from there.

Locals have just a couple more days to do so as Borah’s “Rainy Day Women” will remain up through Friday, July 31, at Vivid Art Gallery, 895 Green Bay Road in Winnetka.

Borah’s challenge is to inspire others. She strays from classic representational imagery, an art style that depicts familiar and recognizable subjects from the real world, such as landscapes, still-lifes and portraits. 

“I find it challenging to be a figurative painter. … I don’t want to be too illustrative with my work,” Borah said. “My goal is to make things open ended. That’s why it’s always interesting to leave the facial expressions of my figures pretty ambiguous, so they can be read in a variety of ways, and keep the relationships between the figures ambiguous.

“People can interpret them as friends, or sisters, or lovers. … It’s not so much as a certain way to feel, but to provoke any kind of feeling.”

Backstory

As a child, Borah knew she wanted to create. Her first jobs, education and passions revolved around the world of art.

But a career in art was never what she thought her future would bring.

“I always loved art, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to be an artist,” Borah said. “My high school art teacher really influenced me to pursue something creative. She was really inspirational and encouraging, and then I took my art more seriously when I went to college and majored in studio art.”

Borah experimented with different art forms. She was interested in fashion design, illustration and other creative pursuits, but ultimately decided to focus on painting.

With degrees in studio art and theology from Boston College, she went on to earn a master’s degree in painting and drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Borah recounts her education at SAIC as life-changing, stating that she was blown away by all the school had to offer. 

“Being surrounded by that energy and those facilities changed everything,” Borah said. “There’s such a love for Chicago at that school. There’s this energy and spirit that’s unique to Chicago, and it made me proud to be back in the city that I was raised close to, and working so closely with artists that felt the same way.”

A mother to four children, including an infant, Borah now has limited time to explore paintings and collect inspiration for her work.

Now, she finds inspiration spontaneously, often through everyday life with her children.

“I find that an idea will come to me when I’m on a walk or with my kids, and then I’ll sit down in my studio and try to come up with an image,” Borah said. 

From There to Here

Vivid Art Gallery owner Cynthia Burr’s favorite piece from the “Rainy Day” collection is “Vase Girl with Orange Flowers,” a piece that reminds Burr of her childhood.

Borah’s philosophy of self-interpretation relates to Burr’s own experiences with the exhibit. 

“There’s something about it that speaks to me,” Burr said. “It can be any little thing that’s going to remind you of something from your childhood. When I was a little kid, I had a picture of a painting from, like, 1632, or something, on my wall. Every time I run into something that reminds me of that, it’s such an emotional rush.” 

Burr opened Vivid in 2016, creating a core group of 13 artists to represent. Since then, she has found more artists through a variety of different ways, such as searching out in other cities and getting referrals from the gallery’s existing artists.

After finding an open spot in the gallery, Burr decided to invite Borah to represent her pieces as a guest artist. 

“I don’t typically do guests…but I knew that I wanted to have a regular routine of shows, and that’s unusual, actually, for a gallery to do,” Burr said.

The largest piece of the exhibit, “The Entertainers,” is displayed in the front window of the gallery.

Stepping inside, guests can see Borah’s exhibit in the front room of the gallery, with pieces ranging from 15-by-13 inches to 54 by 49. 

Borah talked about one of her favorite’s in the exhibit and how it came to be.

“’Narcissus’ is one of my favorites,” Borah said. “Usually I’ll start with the sketch and then I’ll start painting, and the painting isn’t really living up to what I thought it would be, so then I’m sort of fighting the painting. I mean, I love the challenge that comes with that, but sometimes I make a sketch and the painting just works immediately. That was with ‘Narcissus.’ I went to the canvas and painted it in under 24 hours.”

Borah describes her creative process as a learn-by-doing approach. Instead of sitting in front of a blank canvas and trying to brainstorm the perfect painting, she encourages aspiring artists to draw and paint on impulse.   

“I always find that through drawing or through painting, that’s when the ideas come,” Borah said. “Through making is how you’re going to figure out what to make next.”

Vivid Art Gallery is open 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesdays to Saturdays.

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