NYAB Event - Mimi Oritsky "New Paintings and Works on Paper"

Mimi Oritsky "New Paintings and Works on Paper"

A.I.R. Gallery

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A.I.R. Gallery presents “New Paintings and Works on Paper” an exhibition of new work by Mimi Oritsky.

With New Paintings and Works on Paper, Mimi Oritsky presents vibrant land and seascapes inspired by her time in Cranberry Isles, a remote island off the Eastern coast of Maine. In keeping with the artistic and philosophical ideals present in earlier work, Oritsky again immerses herself in and comes to terms with a new environment. The abstracted landscapes Oritsky produces express the relationship of the artist to the constantly changing elements of her natural surroundings. As such, the vantage point in the artist’s work varies from series to series – from the earlier aerial images of the Ronda series to 45 degree angles inspired by a moving train in Spain for the Avé series. Oritsky’s new Pool and Dock series bring the vantage point to ground level. In these drawings and paintings, Oritsky continues to translate brilliantly the airspace between the artist and where her eye rests. In this way, the viewer is invited to experience the intimate relationship and involvement with the environment that Oritsky herself experiences.

Oritsky ultimately seeks to “create a space structured by light and a surface marked by the rhythm of moving air.” This is achieved through a unique process in which she creates oil paintings based on paper drawings done in gouache and graphite. The paint is thick and layered, allowed to dry in between applications. Finally, specific areas are scraped away resulting in a kind of topographical texture on the canvas itself. Bold brushstrokes and markings imitate the life and movement inherent in the landscapes, apparent in the water flowing through the rocks and wind rustling in the grass. And in Oritsky’s typical style, her color palette – here, reds, blues, greens, greys, oranges, and whites – is blended with a sensitivity that creates a marriage between representation and abstraction, stillness and motion, isolation and unity.