The Ohio Artist Registry (OAR) is an exciting opportunity for artists to share their work, connect with the creative community, and establish an online presence—all on a free, virtual platform! The OAR encourages artists working in all art forms, throughout Ohio and beyond, to create a profile, which allows them to better promote themselves and their work. Being listed in the OAR provides artists with new opportunities to share their work with clients, galleries, patrons, and audiences. A listing in the OAR does not confer an endorsement, approval, or verification by the Ohio Arts Council.
For more information, contact Kathy Signorino, artist programs director, at kathy.signorino@oac.ohio.gov or 614-728-6140.
2024 Ohio Artist Registry Juried Exhibition
Victoria Reno
Bio
I am an emerging abstract artist with a BA in Art Therapy who spent 5 years focusing on studying art as a coping mechanism for addiction. Because of this, I take a mental health based approach to art that focuses on my personal experiences with self-harm recovery and my goal is to help others with similar struggles. I have experience with most mediums with a deep passion for using watercolor and acrylic paint.
Artist Statement
We all have experiences that shape our lives in very drastic ways. These experiences are our turning points and everything changes afterwards. For me, it was my struggle with my mental health. I can say that here I am alive at 23 and I know that 12 year old me would be so proud of how far we have come because we thought every single day. Then, I found art and it saved my life. I was always making art growing up, but it was not until junior year of high school, in my art class, that I truly found art and saw the potential it had to help me.
I have a BA in Art Therapy. Now for my future that I never thought would come, I know that I will open an art studio and gallery for teens and young adults who struggle with addiction and I will be who I needed growing up because nobody deserves this life and recovery is possible for every single person who struggles.
When I go about making art, I never go into it with a plan or a meaning. I just do as I feel and create what comes to mind in the moment. I know most people probably do not go about art in this way but, while studying Art Therapy, I have found that I make the most authentic and true to myself art when I do this. I do this because it takes away the pressure of making a piece perfect to match the end result or fit the plan I had previously made. In my opinion, when you have too much of this pressure, it makes you not feel as proud of a piece if it does not fit this look or meaning that you had intended for it to have. This is why I mainly create what I call “a beautiful mess” because it allows for the emotions being felt to really be brought out to the surface and into the art.
In my art, I allow myself to use any and all mediums because, like I learned in classes, different mediums can convey different emotions just like how colors can. I like to focus on abstract paintings because I feel I can express myself the most with it. Overall, I allow my emotions to flow through my art to create pieces that have authentic meaning on a personal and a general level. This means, everyone who sees my art can find a meaning in it just like I do. It may not be the same as mine, but that is the fun in it. I want to make art that has infinite meanings depending on who is viewing it.