Field Kallop Meditates on Universal Patterns Through Bold Chromatic Compositions

"While studying art history as a Princeton undergrad, Field Kallop was tasked with an assignment that continues to shape her artistic practice today. The prompt was to consider the relationship between the micro and macro, and she thought about the atom and galaxies, two organic structures with the same design despite their vastly different scales. This experience vaulted the young art historian-turned-painter toward an enduring line of inquiry that reaches into astronomy, physics, mathematics, philosophy, religious iconography, and much more."

"Invoking the approaches of abstract pioneers like Hilma af Klint and Agnes Martin, Kallop cultivates a deeply contemplative practice in which she produces bold, chromatic works that read like mystical color charts. Smooth gradients radiate from one edge to the other through perfectly cordoned rays, circles, and lines. Each piece begins with a precisely measured grid and continues with the artist nesting washes of pigment into the uniform geometries."

"Bodies of Light, Kallop's most recent body of work, goes on view this week at GAVLAK. Featuring some of her largest pieces to date, the exhibition comprises a collection of watercolor studies and subsequent paintings, three of which are arranged as a monumental triptych stretching 18 feet. Awash in brilliant color, the gallery becomes a sort of sacred space as it envelops visitors in a bold palette that catches and reflects the light."

Field Kallop developed an artistic inquiry from an early assignment comparing micro and macro forms, likening atoms to galaxies and pursuing cross-disciplinary ideas from astronomy to religious iconography. She synthesizes influences from abstract pioneers to produce contemplative, chromatic works built on precise grids, smooth gradients, cordoned rays, circles, and nested washes of pigment. Her recent Bodies of Light series expands scale with watercolor studies, larger paintings, and a monumental 18-foot triptych. Several works incorporate gold and silver leaf to reference sun and moon imagery and to amplify radiant, immersive qualities within the gallery space.

Read at Colossal