Equivalence: Blue Orange Series

Equivalence: Blue Orange features Ruth Pastine’s nearly monochromatic paintings that engage the iconic structure of the Suprematist square canvas. Pastine’s minimalist works address phenomena of color perception and color relativity— the perception of influence between adjacent colors, and emphasize the viewer’s encounter with the painting. In seamless gradients, Pastine advances her minimalist works through rigorous formal systems composed with nuanced admixtures of complementary hues. The saturated and tonal paintings are built up with countless small brushstrokes taking months to complete, and appear to pulse towards their edges with an inner luminosity. Challenging our preconceptions, Pastine investigates the immateriality of matter, the subtle character and nuance of color, and the ethereality of light. Pastine reveals a sensual surface and an optically dematerialized light, further questioning the perceptual experience and redefines the visual field.