SABRINA PIERSOL

BETTER SAID WITH LIGHT

SEPTEMBER 6th – OCTOBER 26th 2024

Sabrina Piersol’s artistic vision explores the raison d’être of the contemporary landscape, occupying a hybrid space through a pictorial interpretation that includes both the contingent (the real world) and the transcendent (the metaphysical). Her compositions and her architecture of symbolic elements contain aspects of nature, such as mountains, meadows, and rivers, as well as a meticulously curated palette of colours and shapes, all of which coexist in a delicate balance of tensions.

“There is no separation or hierarchy. The boundaries between abstraction and representation blur, inviting viewers to explore the depths of both the tangible and the ethereal, the explicit versus the implicit. The process of creating these paintings is guided by reflexivity and desire to capture the essence of both worlds. ”

The works make no reference to time and are as though in a limbo. It is for this very reason that they testify to a poetic venture: they become metaphorical pieces of a vibrant, open and consciously fragmented narrative rooted in the thoughts of some Greek authors, including Sappho. 

“What I love about Sapphic poetry is the fact that it survives in fragments. Despite being incomplete, these pieces of poetry read as astoundingly beautiful and entirely whole. There is structure and logic to the poetry that is interrupted by the absence of information. These absences act as definitive spaces for unique engagement by the audience. Sappho’s fragments exemplify my ideal ratio of order to chaos. This media transformed my approach to painting in 2021 and continues to impact how I exercise control and surrender fluidly. I often reference the thoughtful meeting of clarity, unpredictability and meaning that I find in poetry. It is through this delicate balance that my paintings come to life, imbued with a sense of vitality I conjure via formal applications of color, light, and directional movement.”

The technique she uses brings out the tactile component of her art.

“When I get to the painting, I begin first with toning the canvas (I use oil ground-primed linen) with a color, usually something warm. I then employ reductive mark – making to lay out the composition – I use textured brushes and rags to wipe pigment away to reveal the forms. I love priming the linen with alkyd oil ground because its nonabsorbent surface is perfect for reductive painting techniques. The canvas white shines through, reliably bright and beautiful. When I start to work on the actual painting, elements of the painting might shift in service of the composition. The painting process itself is entirely reflexive. This means that the painting may ultimately look different than how it was originally planned. I allow ample room for risk, change, and responsiveness in my practice.”

Piersol’s landscape goes beyond a purely factual, representational approach and is filled with both philosophical and emotional significance. Like the paintings themselves, the titles are allusive, serving to open a window and create a potential connection with the viewer. In doing so, they translate visual stimuli into multiple states of mind. This creates an intimate dialogue between the observer and the observed. A mental connection brought about by the image coding process (what Georg Simmel refers to as Stimmung), also finds dynamic expression on the physical plane – distinct from Platonic-style theorisations. 

Piersol goes beyond figuration pure and simple and she redefines the landscape in her aesthetics. This sense of beauty is complemented by an insatiable pursuit of the sublime, constantly striving to go one step farther.