Choice of Reality

About Choice of Reality

This contemporary colourful abstract painting is by Milly Ristvedt.

Early in her artistic career, the ‘magic’ of colour and its potential power to evoke emotion seduced Milly Ristvedt. During more than six decades, she has honed her skills as a superb abstract painter and colourist, securing her a place among Canada’s very best. Milly Ristvedt has an intuitive sense of colour, and as such, she has created her own unique palette.
Choice of Reality reflects her early understanding of how bold colour combinations can work together to create a meaningful and intriguing visual language. Expressed in lyrical form; the fluid, generous brushstrokes that dance across the canvas both horizontally and vertically add a dynamic energy to the piece. The fresh, modern palette is rendered in both warm and cool colours—a heady mix of aqua, soft pink, tangerine, bright green, cranberry red, deep blue and purple.

“For myself as an artist, the freedom to explore my own psyche, physicality, and the life around me that informs my work through the elements of painting, particularly the elusive, magical, and fugitive properties of colour, is a gift that I endeavour to pass on.” Milly Ristvedt

“Milly Ristvedt dreams in colour….She has watched the sun rise over the Atlantic and set over the Pacific. To paraphrase the title of the famous work by Joan Miro, Milly Ristvedt is the colour of her dreams.” Eric Devlin, artist

Milly Ristvedt was born in British Columbia and studied at the Vancouver School of Art (now the Emily Carr University). Her first solo exhibit was at the Carmen Lamanna Gallery in Toronto. In the late 1960s, Ristvedt shared a studio with famed Canadian painter Jack Bush, met art critic Clement Greenberg and was inspired by American painters Jules Olitski and Frank Stella. Her work has been included in many publications. She was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 2004 and honoured with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012. She has won seven Canada Council awards and two Ontario Arts Council awards, and has had over 50 solo exhibitions and been part of countless group shows. Ristvedt's work can be found in major public collections throughout North America.

Milly Ristvedt is represented exclusively by the Oeno Gallery.