river huston
personal statement
Painting is what saves me from sleepless nights, the IRS, hair in inappropriate places, untimely deaths, and enormous amounts of illicit drugs. I am an abstract artist and it fits my abstract mind. When you look at my work you are given the opportunity to be transported to where the subtleties of color, texture and composition take you. My goal is to unleash your feelings and let them roam around the work and take in what appeals to you.
about river
River has been painting for 35 years. Her work has been in galleries in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Mexico and the Caribbean. She was also included in an exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
She spent two years as the manager of Alternative Art Alliance in the US Virgin Islands and was involved with teaching outreach classes in the community as well as being the resident artist at sevenminusseven art gallery.
Her paintings are primary abstract and they appear over years or minutes. The work is highly textured and is made with a combination of found materials from coffee grounds to roofing tiles. The base is acrylic applied to canvas or paper.
She was awarded the Leeway Transformation Award for her work in the arts over the last 3 decades.
Described as blunt and irreverent River Huston gave performances and presentations around the world for 28 years to audiences ranging from 40,000 in Japan to sorority and fraternity brother across the nation to little old ladies at a Unitarian Church.
She has been featured on Good Morning America, Showtime, Nightline, CNN and ABC; Up To The Minute. Her topics included sexuality, communication, overcoming challenges and change. River also wrote, and performed a one women show; Sex, Cellulite and Large Farm Equipment: One Girls Guide to Living and Dying, which was performed off Broadway and in theaters around the world.
She is the author of The Goddess: A Guide to Feminine Wisdom and has written three books of poetry, Jesus Never Lived Here, The Bone of Susan and In Which I Lost 1000 Pounds. In 1996 she was named Bucks County Poet Laureate. Her book, A Positive Life: Portraits of Women Living With HIV was the recipient of The Dorthea Lange/Paul Taylor Award, The Golden Lights award, and has been used in classrooms around the world. In 1995 she was Honored with a Doctorate of Humanities from Albright College in recognition of her work in the in the community.
She has written for the Chicago Tribune, many women’s magazines and was a regular sex columnist at POZ magazine for over 14 years.
River currently spend most of her time painting and writing in Northern California. For more info go to www.riverhustonart.com and www.riverhuston.com