ALI SILVERSTEIN:

All of Ali’s work is based on observation of the material world. Whether the subject matter is person, place, or thing, and whether the source of observation is two-dimensional (a photograph) or three-dimensional (life), Ali’s work is always rooted in the experience of looking at something.

She is interested in how, for example, an observational drawing of an object is never exactly the same, even if made in immediate succession to another. She is interested in how, when two objects touch, they create a new outline for something that doesn’t have a name. Or what happens when shapes of color that make up a recognizable image in a photograph get pulled apart and layered on a canvas like bricks, so that they create something new from what was already there.

Ali’s varied series of works represent strategies of examining perception and observation of the things she sees. Using different materials, sizes, and mediums, she is always urging the work to push the boundaries of language – that is, what is recognizable and therefore can be named.¹

Often this results in a contrast of rigorous observation and ambiguity, creating a rich experience of representation and abstraction for the viewer.

Her most recent work is constructed with transparent layers of paint -- either watercolour on paper or thin washes of acrylic on canvas. She uses grid to help abstract and deconstruct the image in its translation from photograph to painting. As on a map, the grid remains a presence in her final work, highlighting the organic shapes of color that build the image.