Renée Borkow

Artist Statement

My work explores the relationship between reality and imagination, and the ways history, environment, and personal experience shape the images we create. I am drawn to subjects that reveal something about the human experience, from the strength and independence of women in mythology to the unexpected beauty found in everyday life. Research, observation, and drawing are central to my process, allowing ideas to develop through both looking and imagining. My series Step Out of Time explores women’s roles throughout history through the powerful female figures of Greek mythology. Inspired by Homer’s The Odyssey, I became interested in the intelligence, independence, and strength of its goddesses. Their stories led me to explore themes of power, femininity, loyalty, and vulnerability. Through collage, I layer color, pattern, stones, and gemstones to build images that carry symbolic and emotional meaning. My series In the City began with an ordinary view of a brick wall and bare trees along Columbus Avenue. What first appeared to be an incidental city scene became a study of geometric architecture and organic forms. I became interested in the tension between hard edges and natural lines, flat surfaces and the illusion of depth, and the relationship between the built environment and nature. Rather than focusing on familiar landmarks, I look for overlooked façades, windows, walls, and trees that reveal the constantly changing character of New York. Drawing remains central to my practice, serving both as a way of understanding what I see and as a finished form of expression. Through line, shape, color, pattern, and composition, I move between observation and abstraction, transforming familiar subjects into something unexpected. The energy, contrasts, and ever-changing visual landscape of New York continue to provide an endless source of inspiration.

www.reneeborkowart.com

Biography

Renée Borkow is a New York-based artist whose work explores the relationship between observation, imagination, and the visual world around her. Working across drawing, collage, painting, and printmaking, her practice is informed by an ongoing interest in line, shape, color, pattern, and composition. Borkow’s series Step Out of Time grew from her research into women’s roles throughout history and her fascination with the powerful female figures of Greek mythology. Inspired by Homer’s The Odyssey, she created a body of collage works exploring themes of power, femininity, loyalty, and strength. Her series In the City developed from her observations of New York’s architecture and natural environment. Rather than depicting familiar landmarks, she is drawn to overlooked views and everyday details, exploring the contrast between geometric structures and organic forms. Drawing remains an important foundation of Borkow’s practice, serving as both a starting point and a finished form of expression. Her work moves between representation and imagination, transforming familiar subjects through color, line, shape, pattern, and spatial relationships. The architecture, nature, movement, and visual contrasts of New York continue to provide an ongoing source of inspiration for her work.