Greta Waller

"Mandorla", 2012, Oil on canvas, 92 X 60 inches

"Objects from Venice  2011-2012  Oil on canvas  73 X 48 inches

Greta Waller's work is intensely observational. She strives to make each brushstroke matter, for each mark to be just the right hue, placed in just such a manner as if to finish that particular piece of the painting in a manner that still feels fresh and spontaneous. Her latest work is a series of still life paintings, often set up in her closet where an idiosyncratic collection of items from her travels, family heirlooms and flea market finds crowd the shelves. She cites being influenced by ancient Roman art in general and Trajan's column in particular after a recent visit to the eternal city. The closet paintings do indeed bear a strange a affinity with the famed column whose imagery wraps round and round it in a lofty spiral. But here, the imagery wraps round an interior space recording not historic events, but personal and private ones. It is an interesting comparison that might tempt one to ponder at length the similarities and differences between art as political propaganda, and the kind of personal narratives we tell to define ourselves. But the anonymous carvers of the column and Ms. Waller also share a devotion to the honesty of observed detail. This honesty is on full display is an earlier series of beautifully crafted studies of ice blocks of various sizes and various stages of melting, resting on trays both decorative and utilitarian. Wherever her explorations take her next you can be assured that she will tackle it with the same loving attention and deft skill. You can see more of her work at Maloney Fine Art