Katie Metz

"Downtown Twenty"  acrylic on panel  17.5" x 24"  2010

"City Darshan 3"  acrylic on panel  25" x 40"  2011

Downtown Eighteen"  acrylic on panel  17" x 28"  2010

"Downtown Fifteen"  acrylic on panel  19.5" x 24"  2010

"City Darshan 2"  acrilic on panel  18" x 35"  2011

Katie Metz portrays a unique vision of the city. Through what appears to be equal measures of painting and scraping on a textured surface she assembles a shimmering portrait of buildings and traffic. The work often teeters on the edge of pure abstraction. The tendency toward abstraction is a natural one. A city is, after all, little more than a collage of architecture, abstract human designs in three dimensions. But the work ultimately stays in the realm of representation. She wants you to see the city in her work. As much as she enjoys building up marks and textures, it's the city, it's vibrant chaotic hum that she wants you to see, and maybe to hear, and smell, and feel. She portrays it's energy in the day, at night, in the rain, in the heat. It's mood changes in each situation but it's energy is unrelenting. Exactly the same can be said for Katie Metz's paintings.

See more of her work at her website katiemetzstudio.com

and at www.friesengallery.com