Sue Scott
"Claire Seidl: Rosenberg + Kaufman Fine Art"
ART News
September, 1996

Claire Seidl has been exploring abstraction for close to two decades. These forays into line, color, space, and composition have given way to a number of stylistic changes over the years that range from her earlier geometric abstractions and the freedom with paint found in her recent works. Although a thread of consistency - particularly in the mark of the brush - can be traced throughout the years, Seidl has taken a leap in these new paintings, revealing a marvelous synthesis of gesture and form.

Among the stronger paintings here were The Purse Stealer's Eye is Yellow and The Eye of the Glassblower, both of which gain their complexity through (perhaps unintentional) abstract references to the land and sea. For instance, The Eye of the Glassblower, easily the show stopper of the group, brings to mind a teeming phosphorescent sea, where the electric squiggles of light burst out from a canvas of midnight blues, simultaneously alluding to a murky depth and a beautifully textured surface. Likewise, in The Purse Stealer's Eye is Yellow, it is the references to nature - in this case one might envision trees or dark clouds outlined against the ominous yellow light that follows a summer storm - that give this painting depth and, consequently, a sense of magic. Seidl is at her best when she achieves a seamless sense of light and dark.


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