Pen and Paint

an interview with artist Ann Goldberg

Jul 16, 2025

"My paintings actually end up as a contrast between hyperrealism and abstract expressionism (although seemingly opposing - another recurring theme). As you can see if you get up close my paintings are abstract & painterly but as you back off they become photographic. I find this duality really interesting--"

--Ann Goldberg--Hyperclarity

Ann Goldberg—Standing with Lilac Commission for size, 2023. Oil on canvas

I so enjoyed talking to Ann Goldberg. I challenge you to look at peonies or a bowl of cherries or a casual poolside gathering in the same way after studying her art. In fact, I spent far too long trying to choose representative paintings--each one is more beautiful than the next, and in succession they dazzle, so rich and ripe that they both seduce and unsettle. Goldberg's undergraduate degree was in mathematics, which is not a typical degree for a visual artist. Unlike many artists who will appear here, the intersection of her practice is not writing and painting, but painting and mathematics.

No matter what Goldberg chooses as the subject of her paintings, her artistry brings a clarity and lushness that transforms the way the viewer sees, and her hyperreal approach stands in contrast with the more common experimental and abstract styles so prevalent today.

Candy Apples II 2017 Oil on canvas

Here are some excerpts of our wide-ranging conversation (which was apparently so engaging that a stranger at the cafe chimed in to offer her own opinions on living as an artist!)

Rachel Rose: Do you have any formal arts education?

Ann Goldberg: I'll start with my grandmother, Grace. She was a weaver, of Scottish ancestry from Nova Scotia, from like the 1600s or something. My grandmother would take raw wool and dye it with natural dyes, like onionskin and lichen. Then she would spin it and make these wall hangings and purses. I remember being around her and playing with big piles of wool and her buttons. I would organize them for her. I grew up around a lot of art. My mum would take me to art shows as a child. I remember one show at the Edmonton Art Gallery; it was a show on realism. I remember seeing statues and paintings that were so real I felt I could touch them. They resonated so much for me.

Even today, I'm obsessed with the challenge of getting it right.

Rachel Rose: Do you think there's a connection between that obsession and your study of mathematics?

Ann Goldberg: I think so. It's just how my brain works. I'm not a normal artist. I started at UBC as an undergrad in Mathematics, but then moved to Victoria with my husband. In the end we returned to Vancouver and I graduated with a degree in Architecture. I did some art throughout my studies. I also did some sculpture with Mowry Baden at the time, and then I did philosophy of art on the side. All along I wanted to study architecture, because I thought there would be an intersection between art and mathematics in this particular field. I practiced architecture with John Hollifield for ten years. We typically worked on houses; John was an excellent architect. Then Murray's business took off and I had two kids. I went back to painting. I was quite happy to. I got into a gallery called Gallery Jones, then Winsor Gallery, and then I decided to try it out on my own. I've been doing that ever since, including shows at the Pendulum Gallery downtown. It's a lovely space. I also show my work at a gallery in Chelsea in London.

The Goldbergs, 2015. Oil on canvas

Rachel Rose: If you could change one thing in the arts world, what would it be?

Ann Goldberg: The primary problem is the current art sales model: galleries struggle to survive on their commissions, and artists can't earn a living due to the 50% cut they have to give up.

Rachel Rose: What are you working on now that you are most excited about?

Ann Goldberg: I'm having a show at the Pendulum Gallery in October. (The show is called AcmeGram. More details about it can be found on her website or Instagram )

It's always a challenge to market yourself. I think you know what this is like: I want to paint, I don't want to sell my art. It's this fight that goes on inside of me. But I feel like I have to. I don't want to end up with a pile of paintings just sitting at home. You feel the need to get them out into the world.

Rachel Rose: So what's the solution?

Ann Goldberg: The only viable solution in many cases would be for the gallery to increase the price or volume of sales to make up for the commission lost or charge a smaller commission. Otherwise there is simply not enough money to support both the gallery and the artist. I'm showing at this one in London, Signet Contemporary Art.

Rachel Rose: When did you first define yourself as an artist?

Ann Goldberg: I don't know that I define myself. I just have always done it. Maybe at six with those classes I took. My mother put me in private art classes in Edmonton.

As a university student, I had to make art while I did math. I don't think I could live without it. It's like therapy. It calms me down and lets me be present.

There's a book I read once about when you get lost in your work, a book on flow. That's what everybody seeks, and that's what art is to me.

Rachel Rose: I know exactly what you mean; I enter that state as a writer too. What percent of the time when you are painting are you in that state of flow?

Ann Goldberg: Sometimes I need to fiddle around with stuff for five or ten minutes before I begin. Sometimes Murray will talk to me. I'm not very pleasant when he does. Flow happens anytime I paint - at least 4-5 hours a day. Mostly it's the best, there's nothing better.

Rachel Rose: How lucky you are as an artist, being able to enter that state of flow any time you paint. For me as a writer, it only happens sometimes, maybe a third to half the time, that I am in a state of flow and completely immersed in the rhythm of the work. Who or what influences you now? With whom do you collaborate creatively?

Ann Goldberg: Funnily enough, I've connected with some people on Instagram, which is so cool, I find their work so inspiring. They're in Switzerland. We've connected online. A few magazines have connected with me as well, I've met people who are like-minded and who are inspired by the same things. Michael Abraham is a local I enjoy, also Carla Tak and David Wilson--he does a lot of streetscapes. I tend to do best in environments where I can concentrate independently.

Rachel Rose: What inspires you as an artist?

Ann Goldberg: Beauty in the everyday. It's going through life and looking for beauty. I just finished reading Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. As that book reminds us, "it's not about epic or philosophical things, but about the walk of life itself—the felt walk, not the reflected one."