TRACY THOMASON: Venus

"Thomason, who was born and raised in Maryland, remembers that when she was a child her grandmother, who lived in New Mexico, would send her stones, so she could have the tactile experience of seeing and feeling the rocks for herself—so alien were they to an East Coast landscape. Her early appreciation of the mineral world eventually developed into an advanced understanding of her materials, which unfold across her surfaces in uneven terrain that could be construed as topographical, carnal, or extraterrestrial."

- Jessica Holmes in "Tracy Thomason: Venus"

"The metronomic, silver-hued arabesques of built-up material expand across the canvas like flowing tidewaters, even as her insistent, cross-hatched scoring marks unify the composition. The painting’s tactile surface, evoking Thomason’s physical efforts, does suggest the exterior of a seashell."

- Jessica Holmes in "Tracy Thomason: Venus"

"Making a slurry of gesso mixed with chipped stone, marble dust, or calcium carbonate (or some combination of these materials), Thomason accretes the crags and mountainous ridges that make up the three-dimensional, friezelike elements of her paintings. She also uses stone carving tools to gouge into the dense material, leaving slashes and deep grooves that counterbalance the bumpy ranges."

- Jessica Holmes in "Tracy Thomason: Venus"