Paint Sculpture


“Art to me is an anecdote of the spirit.”

- Mark Rothko

Rothko, like many modernists, believed in the personal spiritual power of abstract art and its potential for the sublime, for pieces to transfix and transform the viewer. And colour was his Christ, the lure that led the way. He believed that a work, intensely experienced, offers a portal to more profound awareness. For Carla Tak, her wondrous sculptures fashioned from the spillage and scraps of old paint projects appear as sacred objects, both meditative and magical in their allure. The work evidences Tak’s interest in conservation and repurposed materials but also pays tribute to the work ethic of the artist, the toil of studio life and the still fertile potential in dried up, leftover paint. Each piece seems strangely hallowed and potent as if a relic of some long lost work of art. Appearing both artful and organic, Tak’s sculptural paint pieces employ the power of intimacy to draw the eye into appreciating the still compelling appeal of paint as a medium for conveying emotion. The effect is fascinating. In the coarse and clever interlacing of colours and forms, the pieces appear like fragmented remnants of modern art, as if an homage to Pollock and Motherwell, Lee Krasner and Joan Mitchell. But the work is more novel than nostalgic as Tak creates something entirely new constructed from her own old material - seductive personal symbols representing her life as an artist.

Paint Sculpture/2020, Acrylic paint with emulsion, 34x30 inches