The Firehouse Arts Center is excited to present the solo exhibition of Jane Yuen Corich, Conversations in Color. This exhibition features approximately 12 of the artist’s signature abstract paintings. Working in acrylic-based mixed media, each large-scale canvas carries sentimental symbolic anecdotes from the artist’s personal journey of exploration and introspection. The artist has stated the following on her work:

“I consider myself a visual storyteller, calling on my imagination to make sense of the world through color, line and composition. The stories I tell are in the lines and in the depth of what we see. Discovery is the key to what I do and how I relate to the world. I seek to learn something new in every piece I complete. These works at the Firehouse Arts Center were completed within the last four years. Exploration is the outstanding component. I find immense satisfaction when I find color relationships and compositional balances that make the work feel complete with a sense of calm within an abstract narrative.

Random memories, feelings of joy, and often deep-seated longings are heart of my abstract work. These feelings surface as I start the process of laying color, line and texture. As the process builds, I look for cues that would tell me where I should go. Balance is a word I come back to in every step of the process. The atmospheric nature of my work can be read as an Asian sensibility that reflects the delicacy of light and line to create an equilibrium often found in nature. These are deep cultural roots that surface unconsciously. On the other hand, growing up and living in large cities of Boston, Honolulu, Paris, New York City, and San Francisco bring out the hard edges and structures of urban landscapes that are often found in my work.

The act of combining color, composition, and mark-making is exhilarating and deeply gratifying. The mediums I work with are acrylic, collage, oil, and oil with cold wax medium. Experimentation with these mediums forms my visual language.”

Jane Yuen Corich

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Jane Yuen Corich started painting in the 1980s while she was a fashion design student in New York City. While on an extended trip in the South of France, she purchased her first set of oil paints and brushes. During her stay, she created numerous abstract canvases, and was invited to show her works in a local church. This was the start of her love of painting. After returning to the United States, she had shows in independent New York City and Washington, D.C. galleries before moving to California to work in shoe design.

In California she began etching and fine art quilting as a means of expression, and to get back to “thinking like an artist.” During this time she also raised a family. After many years of quilting, her interest in oil painting resurfaced. Drawn to the beauty and luminosity of classical oil paintings found in museums, she pursued local classes in the old masters-style of painting. After completing and exhibiting a series of still-life paintings, she was ready for the next challenge of working on abstract subject matter.

​Abstract painting has been the narrative of her artistic vision since 2005. Currently she works in acrylic, acrylic mixed media, oil, and oil with cold wax. She feels very comfortable, as well as challenged, with the process of discovering a painting through the journey of creating art. Corich continues to take classes and workshops to discover techniques that feed her curiosity. She exhibits her abstract paintings in local and international juried art shows, and has received numerous awards. Her art resides in collections locally and throughout the country. When she is not painting or entering shows, Corich is designing shoes for Impo International, or working as a costumer in the East Bay theater community. She resides in Walnut Creek, California.