Cynthia Wick’s “Floraborealis,” on display at Berkshire Botanical Garden through August 27th, features joyous, incandescent paintings that emerged out of the dark Covid years of isolation, when the artist took refuge in her studio in Lenox, MA, going inward for inspiration and exploring her memories of color, light and beauty.
Wick’s love of nature is undeniable as flowers, star-filled skies and bodies of water merge into distant, twinkling, city lights. Her materials are acrylic paint and painted paper collage. The artist also adds found objects like metallic cocktail umbrellas, glitter and Japanese paper she collects.
Wick works loosely and intuitively in the beginning of each picture, then slowly builds up the surface with multiple layers of paint and collage. “Floraborealis” is Wick’s second show at Berkshire Botanical Garden, following her 2019 exhibition, “The Shape of Color.”