Oil on canvas
183.3 x 137.5 x 3.8 cm


Patricia Treib is a contemporary painter whose irregular forms are derived from details and motifs she finds in historical paintings. Previously, she has combined these with references to everyday objects such as clocks and cameras. Built from broad brushstrokes that often appear to have been made in single, continuous gestures, her shapes are closely arranged in assemblages that, in some places, approximate tessellated structures; where no space appears at all between two blocks of colour, it can seem they share an outline and to some extent form each other. As a result, where it does appear, the blank space that does exist in the form of cream or raw canvas represents a vital aspect of her works. 
 
In fact, one might argue that it’s is her judicious use of negative space on the canvas that furthers the calligraphic, at times practically alphabetic, quality of her configurations by accentuating the precedence of their value in relation to each other, as opposed to as isolated parts. Their construction is reminiscent of typographic processes, or the repetitive practices which are the prerequisite of speed and legibility in the formation of individual handwriting styles: despite the swiftness that they suggest in their final form, Treib reworks each of her shapes meticulously until it reaches a solid conclusion that she is happy with, before repeating them across canvasses with a sense of fluidity. Indeed, insofar as they represent translations of previously recognisable forms, the various components of her work demonstrate her interest in creating new visual languages from former media, and in their various painted syntaxes her characters successfully enact a process of signification in their own right. –Elsa Gray


*1979 in Saginaw, United States | Living and working in New York City, United States