Jackson Heights artist Norma Greenwood said that she has always felt at home in an art supply store, so it’s no wonder that she has been creating her own pieces since childhood.
“I think I was born into it,” Greenwood said of how she became an artist. “I grew up in Brooklyn … and when I was a little girl I used to spend a lot of time in my grandfather’s paint store. I just loved the smells and the sounds and the paint chips. My favorite thing was just playing with the paint chips.”
Greenwood said that she still feels nostalgic when she walks into a store with brushes and paint. She also said that it always inspires her to get into the studio.
When she was about 11, Greenwood began taking art classes at the Brooklyn Museum, followed by classes at the Pratt Institute as a teenager. By the time she got to college, Greenwood knew she wanted to continue to study art.
Greenwood now does both paintings and photography. She studied photography in the 1990s and also did it professionally back then.
“I would say that the consistent thing about my art is my approach and aesthetic,” said Greenwood, who has a studio in Union Square. Having traveled throughout the world, Greenwood said that the time she spent in Japan had an influence on her aesthetics.
When it comes to the subject matter of her pieces, Greenwood said that it changes depending on her interests at a particular period of time. In the past she has done series on sinks, pipes and radiators, among other things. Currently, she is working on a series of beds and pillows that she refers to as interior landscapes. She explained that they are “very evocative.”
“In that way it’s fun to work with, but it also reminds me so much of the forms and the shapes you see in a landscape,” said Greenwood, who was also a public access producer at Queens Public Television (QPTV).
Greenwood, who has won several awards for her work and is also a teaching artist, said that the series is volumetric and feminine. She also explains that she uses a technique of fluid brushwork and veils of color.
Regardless of what media she is working in, Greenwood said that she wants to create some sort of link between the work and those who are viewing it.
“I would say that my goal in my painting and all the work is really to create connections,” Greenwood said. “My goal is to inspire people to see the commonplace in a new way.”
This summer, Greenwood displayed some of her works in Astoria and East Hampton.
For more information on Greenwood and her work, visit www.normagreenwood.com.
