Queenstown Gallery in Hopewell presents an opening reception for “Cracks in the Road and Other Stories,” a collection of watercolors by Renee Kumar of West Windsor. “Renee’s paintings speak to me in a way that few other new artists have done,” says Marc Udell, the gallery owner. “Her works are very vivid and abstract — not your traditional watercolors.” The show will be on view through July 10.##M:[more]##
Using handmade papers and infusing elements like gold leaf, Kumar creates abstracts in colors that are saturated — yet translucent. Her paintings are literally based on cracks she has found on the roads around her West Windsor neighborhood. “The cracks suggest beautiful, primordial images to which I bring colors and attendant shapes to create my paintings,” she says.
Kumar has studied with contemporary painters including Barbara Osterman, Pat Martin, Maggie Johnson, and Patricia San-Soucie. She credits these artists with leading her to watercolors and introducing her to some of the layering techniques that she has made so completely her own. “Besides loving the medium — there’s an easy, back-and-forth flexibility with watercolor paints that was a perfect choice for a mother with three small children,” Kumar says. She is also an active member of West Windsor Arts Council.
Kumar’s father was an engineer and her mother was a psychologist. She graduated from University of Massachusetts, Amherst, with a degree in developmental education and childrens creativity. While there, she met her future husband, Rakesh Kumar, who was working on his doctorate in computer science.
They moved to Kingston 11 years ago when he became the Senior Technical Director of the Vision and Robotics Lab at the Sarnoff Corporation. Four years ago the family moved to West Windsor.
Their children include Nikhil, 17, a senior at High School South; Anjali, 13, a student at Grover Middle School; and Kiran, 10, a student at Village.
In 2007 Kumar’s works were part of “Dangerous Women Two,” a multi-media exhibit featuring artists, activists, and visionaries presented at Mercer College. Kumar, who was raised in Massachusetts, admits that she always painted “outside the lines” and that the nuns were not pleased by her art. (The News, August 24, 2007)
Kumar’s exhibit focused on Dorothy Day because they were both raised as strict Catholics and she was attracted to her. “I had read her book a long time ago but I see her with a whole different meaning now that I’m a mother. Women, no matter what they are doing, are dealing with loss and emptiness,” she said. “The dangerous women took chances and changed the way we look at the world.”
“I’m fascinated with movement because in movement we find moments of grace, and when we find those moments, we come up against the soul,” she says. “As an artist those moments are about as close to perfection as you’re going to get.”
Art Exhibit, Queenstown Gallery, 24 West Broad Street, Hopewell, 609-466-0817. The gallery is open Tuesday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. The opening reception is Saturday, May 16, 5:30 to 8 p.m.
