Blue Wall with Ochre

About Blue Wall with Ochre

This large abstract contemporary oil painting has a floral theme rendered in blue and ochre.

The distinctive and lush visual language of Jennifer Hornyak has garnered her international attention and praise. Known for her intimate style, Hornyak’s artwork has long drawn inspiration from German Expressionism and 20th-century French Fauvism, including the work of Henri Matisse. Hornyak’s paintings remain resolutely modern, occupying a space between figuration and abstraction.
In recent years, much of her work has explored floral themes; however Hornyak’s flowers transcend mere representation. Her potent imagery is universal--acting instead as metaphors for life. She refers to them as ‘flowerscapes.’
Jennifer Hornyak frequently experiments with acrylics as an underpainting for oil. She works intuitively, selecting colours and building opulent layers of paint to achieve depth, dimension--light and shadow and a sensuous texture that transforms the visual experience into a tactile one.
Blue Wall with Ochre is a fine example of Hornyak’s ability to use rich colours and expressive brushstrokes to create a dramatic composition. Against a dark background, a ‘bouquet’ of flowers is framed by generous passages of ochre adding warmth and movement to the piece. The addition of rosy pink, sky blue and white provide contrast.

“Most artists want to do the painting of their lives. I’m searching for that; trying to express myself, always pushing forward to find that ‘thing’ that is essentially mine.” Jennifer Hornyak

“Her appeal to the unconscious was impressionistic like an invitation to the garden of the soul.” Bernard Théoret, Art Reviewer

Jennifer Hornyak studied at the Grimsby School of Art in England. In 1961, she moved to Montreal where she attended McGill University, the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal and the Centre Saidye Bronfman. Hornyak has exhibited throughout North America and Europe including the Paris World Exhibition in 1987 where her work was shown alongside that of Modigliani, Picasso and van Dongen. Jennifer Hornyak’s work is represented in many private and corporate collections including Bombardier Transport, Burroughs Wellcome, McCarthy Tétrault, Power Corporation and Hyatt Regency Hotel. She works and lives in Montreal.