Mar 25, 20202 min read

Carole Silverstein at Gallery 169

Carole Silverstein, the certainty of tides, in your thousand other forms, Gallery 169; Image courtesy of the artist

Carole Silverstein: in your thousand other forms

Gallery 169, Santa Monica through March 28

Written by Sydney Walters Carole Silverstein is a master painter of lush patterns and color that demand thoughtful consideration of presence. Tracing the spiraling lines with you eyes, these paintings unravel with the resolve of a mandala with the aura of a landscape.

Inspired by Islamic architecture, pieces like “some kind of sorcery” and “this ache in your heart is holy”, mimic the pointed archways in temple doors and windows. With a singular line, Silverstein transforms her piece into a portal. This creation of an invisible door or window segregates interior and exterior and pushes the background past pattern and into infinity.

An emerald green hue stains the entire backdrop in “some kind of sorcery” transporting the scene into a mystical landscape. A checkered burgundy walkway with strategically missing panels guides the viewer into the geometric haven crammed into the doorframe. In nearly all of her paintings, Silverstein creates and zigzag composition that balances positive and negative space. This accompanies her repeating shapes and captures the viewer into an enchanting labyrinth.

Silverstein also has several collages accompanying her paintings. These are smaller works framed on the wall that sample her fastidious mining for unique textures and colors. Clipping out works from magazines, she crops remarkable photographic moments, such as water ripples, snake skin and sedimentary rock, and composes them in manner which complements her paintings as they equally invite curiosity and satisfying reflection.