Lesley Vance, Untitled, 2011, oil on linen, 12 x 10 inches” width=”449″ height=”540″ /> Lesley Vance, Untitled, 2011, oil on linen, 12 x 10 inches
When traveling to non-English speaking countries, I find genuine pleasure in listening to the local music. Often, the words bear almost no meaning to me, the melodies and evocative emphasis in the lyrics resting pleasurably just on the edge of my ability to decipher them. Such is the joy in viewing Lesley Vance‘s small oil paintings and watercolors at her show at David Kordansky Gallery in Culver City (up now thru August 13.)
Her work suggests light, shapes and sculptural depth, without ever fully defining very much of anything. Romantic, calligraphic brush strokes (lines of poetically varying weight) suggest folds and fissures of undefined depth, but mapping that terrain would be virtually impossible. What seem to be shadows morph into objects, and colors play off of one another, adding Hans Hoffman-like push and pull to further confuse things.
Lesley Vance, Untitled (detail), 2011, oil on linen, 12 x 10 inches
Shifting languidly between the realm of the known and unknown, Vance’s paintings invite viewers to muse, observe and endlessly struggle for a complete understanding.
Lesley Vance, Untitled, 2011, oil on linen, 13.5 x 11 inches
