I am a gestural symbolist influenced by the Abstract Expressionists. Formally, I am concerned with mark making and materiality of paint and surface. I am also interested in using incongruous colors and juxtaposing them to create a unified and absorbing image. 

As an abstract painter, my works are driven by the written word. I am particularly moved by texts that evoke rich visual imagery and resonate with me or conversely those that raise questions. After my exploration of these texts, I create a palette, imagery and symbols for the series of paintings as I head into the studio.

My current series, Mirrors & Decrees, is inspired by Dr. Avivah Zornberg’s exegesis on the decree by Pharaoh in the biblical book of Exodus to throw all the Jewish male children into the river. Facing such a crushing reality, there was a hopelessness that pervaded the enslaved Israelites. There was a risk they would stop having children and building a future. According to Dr. Zornberg, it was women who realized that they could use mirrors and other objects to change their husbands’ perceptions of reality and build a future of hope. The works use imagery of the Nile and metallic colors in referencing the biblical narrative as they discuss ways that we can distort reality to create new pathways forward. 

Even the title of these paintings suggest the contrast between a decree and a mirror. A decree is an order, something immutable that I perceive as a straight and rigid line. However, a mirror is an object, like the river, that distorts and creates undulating lines and marks.  “(The mirrors) offer a counterworld to the world of gezara (decree) of the way it has to be,” Zornberg writes. “The natural limitations of vision are challenged and deflected by this instrument that distorts reality; even modern mirrors retain the right-left reversal in order to extend perception.”

In these paintings, the imagery comes from the Nile River. The palette includes metallic colors echoing the jewelry and mirrors the women used in changing their realities as well as blues that mimic the river. By using Squeegees and other atypical means of applying paint, I am creating unique surfaces. The paintings are on different surfaces, including  wood, paper, canvas, and Dura-Lar, as well as collages on paper. My aesthetic leans towards creating a harmony using colors that are disjointed.  Like the women in the Biblical story, this exhibition challenges viewers to examine the narrative from a unique perspective.  

Can we see the strict line of the harsh decree versus the undulating line mimicking the river and mirrors which distort reality to suggest an alternative reality?

Stacy Leeman

July 2025