New Publication: Elliott Puckette

The elegant simplicity of Puckette’s line belies its complex process. With brisk, confident gestures, the artist etches inlets into board washed with layers of gesso and ink. The colored washes create distinctive atmospheres in each work—brooding storm clouds of gray and tumultuous seas of dark purple. Puckette uses a razor blade to draw her arcs, carving out pathways instinctively with exquisite light touch. Later, she returns to deepen the furrows with cross-hatching—a labor-intensive process that inherently slows the line, subtracting it from the painting and delineating its negative space. 

In recent bodies of work, Puckette has developed her use of line by first rendering it three dimensions, making ephemeral sculptures out of wire. By translating the form of the maquette, Puckette flattens, and thus further abstracts, the line. As such, the works capture a silhouette of their three-dimensional references, a fleeting snapshot of perspective. 

Learn More