About Virginia

I’m Virginia Baich, an artist based outside Albuquerque, New Mexico. My abstract paintings explore astronomy, physics, and the connections between things we can see and forces we can only imagine.

New Mexico changed the way I look. When I first arrived from California, I missed the coast. Then I began watching the desert sky—the shifting color at sunset, the darkness that followed, and more stars than I had ever seen. That sense of discovery continues to shape my work.

“Out here, away from the noise, the universe feels closer.”— Virginia Baich

I work with paint, collage, metallic leaf, and encaustic wax, building surfaces that catch light and invite a closer look. Planetary forms meet traces of subatomic particles. Layers of wax suggest distant atmospheres, ocean currents, and spaces that seem empty until you begin to explore them. Occasionally, a sculpture extends an idea beyond the painting.

For 35 years, I taught design, painting, mixed media, and art history at UNM and CNM. Encouraging students to trust their ideas was an important part of that work. Their persistence and willingness to experiment remain close to my own practice.

Today, I create from my vineyard outside Albuquerque, where the sky offers an endless source of questions. Those questions keep me painting.