January 17 - February 19, 2020
Nicole Phungrasamee Fein lives and works in San Francisco. Fein’s works on paper are noted for her agile handling of pigment. Going back nearly two decades, her drawings are made sequentially. The work has evolved, but delicacy and tranquility are constant. Multiple layers of earth tones in overlapping motions – left/right, top/bottom – defined the earliest pieces. The result is visually akin to weaving. Gradually color choices expanded but remained muted. About ten years ago, a decidedly more vibrant spectrum appeared. Combined with predominantly horizontal lines, these evoked luminous landscapes or seascapes. Later, strokes radiating from a central point in the Tondi series introduced the circle to what had been predominantly square.
The current exhibition takes a major leap by probing qualities of one of Fein’s two essential components. The vehicle – water – for the first time carries the pigment, in this case iron oxide, as it moves naturally. The reduced palette, no longer visibly under control of a brush, reveals the way water acts. Fein deftly guides the process, creating works of astonishing complexity. The outcomes are wide-ranging. Alluvial currents and splattered rain patterns are both inspiration and result. Radiating forms are evocative of nature on micro and macro scales – buzzing molecules, cellular life, exploding stars. While still falling under the general rubric of watercolor, the artist describes her current practice as water drawing. She writes:
My practice is simple – I slowly make one small mark at a time. The work strives to harmonize focus and repose, creating an experience that is simultaneously tense and tranquil.
I process the act of walking by drawing what feel like individual steps, marking the moments and maintaining a steady rhythm. In doing so, I find a practice that centers on the extremely slow and focused pace – and the resulting sense of calm, for both myself and the viewer – of meticulous, methodical mark making.
The drawings represent the search for a visually and emotionally grounded space, composed slowly and cumulatively. More recently, the natural flow of water has emerged as a guiding principle in the formation of each image, providing a sense of freedom that offsets the tremendous discipline required to create the work. I am currently exploring the possibilities of scale and balancing my controlled gesture with the energy of the water itself. For these ‘water drawings’, the circle is the natural form that occurs from a drop, and the accumulation of drops create a field. The challenge of articulating the singularity of the present moment continues to drive the work. NPF 2019
Born in Evanston, Illinois in 1974, Nicole Fein attended Tufts University (BA), the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (BFA), and Mills College, Oakland, CA (MFA). She has exhibited nationally and internationally including San Francisco, Philadelphia, Houston, New York, Los Angeles, Paris, London and Berlin (upcoming). Her work has been reviewed in ArtForum, The Week, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Artweek and ARTnews. Her work is included in permanent public collections: the Achenbach Foundation at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Berkelely Art Museum; the Blanton Museum; the Fogg Museum; Hammer Museum; Menil Drawing Institute; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; the Whitney Museum of American Art, among others.
Opening: January 17, 2020 | 6–8 pm
Conversation: January 18, 2020 | 12–1 pm
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