Facets

February 28, 2015 – March 21, 2015

‘Facets’ features a selection of geometric, colour-focused paintings and sculpture which play with the nature of light, dimension, and abstraction.

Born in 1972, Kristina Burda is a self-taught Toronto-based painter who originally trained as a classical violinist at the Royal Conservatory of Music, a respect for melody and classical composition which inspired in her a lifelong passion for abstract painting. Kristina’s paintings explore the nature of colour and colour relationships. Each canvas is crisply divided into sections of smooth unblemished paint painstakingly applied layer upon layer, to create relationships between oranges and purples, greys and greens, colours that vibrate next to one another and seem to bend and flex, as though the canvas itself is three-dimensional. In experiencing Kristina’s work, one often feels as though they are snugly residing inside a piece of granite or a precious gem.

Greg Murdock has been part of the Olga Korper Gallery since 1987. His most recent work is a reexamination of sculptures he created in the 80s, which over the last few years inspired a series of paintings featuring the sculptural fragments remaining in his studio. These new sculptures are easily described as paintings in space: Greg has long since perfected the art of the luminous surface in his work, and has brought no subtler magic to his new series of geometric sculptures. They radiate with colour blended into encaustic, or beeswax, or burnished graphite. Though contemporary in every sense, the sculptures seem to recall the depth and glow of Italian frescos. Each panel of colour relates to its neighbour, complimenting, contrasting, and creating a visual tension that encourages the eye to wander endlessly across the asymmetrical planes.

Together, the paintings and sculpture create an environment in which the viewer can explore the nature of line and shape, of two and three-dimensional planes, the simple perfection of geometry, of colour and colour and colour and light.