Spirit  oil on canvas  54 x 40″  $2000

Whether understood as complex physiological organisms or as souls swaddled in flesh, humans embody mystery and potentiality. Clarissa R Katz’s interest goes beyond the unseen and incorporeal elements to embrace the physicality of people as well as their collective psychology. She finds subtle moments revealing—the tension in an arm, the curve of a shoulder, the intense look in an eye, and the connections people make when they look at each other.

Katz’s work rides the edge between different modes of painting with color acting as a central component. She is drawn to that space where representation meets abstraction and where volume and flatness intersect. Overlapping marks create layers of paint that both reveal and conceal, similar to our physical surroundings’ ability to both reflect and influence our identity. Her current series acts as both a study of persona and as conduit to express emotion for herself, for the model, and for the viewer. Through the use of color and the expressive language of paint, her work connects the personal to that which links us as human beings.

Clarissa R. Katz