Bio
I was born in New York City. Growing up, I spent each summer in Italy with family and traveled widely. As a child and teenager I studied painting privately with a local artist and continued with fine arts courses in college. I received a BA in Art History from Barnard College in New York City, an MD degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester, New York and trained in Internal Medicine at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia. I completed a fellowship in Infectious Diseases at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and was in private practice in Infectious Diseases for twelve years.
After leaving practice I attended courses in the Continuing Education Division of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA and the workshops of painter Timothy Hawkesworth at the Norristown Arts Building in Norristown, PA. I have been in solo and group shows in Philadelphia, PA and surroundings and my work has been collected by individuals and businesses.
Artist Statement
My paintings and drawings move. They can be marked by charging lines and swirling colors that telegraph a sense of restlessness and disquiet, or alternatively, elation and uplift. Sometimes, the colors are muted and the lines slow; a sense of space overtakes the lines and forms, imparting a meditative quality.
For inspiration, I regularly turn to natural abstract forms such as the curl of a wave or the tangle of a thicket and use them to express an emotional and spiritual response. Guided by the way nature creates and destroys, I start with a big definitive gesture, perhaps a calligraphic sweep of black paint or large fields of color, and then layer on and scrape off paint as I go along. I dig in with pencil and charcoal and scratch out with a sharp point. The process is both spontaneous and analytical and results in the surprises and discoveries that mark any inward or outward journey of exploration.
Press
Philadelphia Inquirer, Victoria Donohoe, "A Little Science". June 26, 2009. Review of "Spring Exhibtion 2009", Lankenau Institute for Medical Research Gallery.
Montgomery County Town and Counry Living, Winter 2008 issue. Painting, "Venezia" featured in the Enjoy section, p. 10.
Review of "On My Way" by Victoria Donohoe, Philadelphia Inquirer, Montgomery County Neighbors, 9/30/07:
Pagus Gallery. Pia De Girolamo, a physician who gave up a private practice of medicine after 12 years to devote her energies to painting, shows abstract paintings at Pagus in Norristown.
These are unpremeditated acts of creation in which feeling is paramount. Using acrylic paint on paper, this Ambler artist, often working large, mingles a bold, thorough traditionalist's concern for drawing with an unusual, highly effective way of conveying the power of light and color directly.
Distinguished by broad, brushy, autographic gestures often in bright hues, her works in this strong show allow chance associations to suggest theme and image.
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