Bows
Each painting begins with Silverstein drawing a bow form—eyes half-closed, guided by feeling. then a zen-inspired process of “raking” lines of paint in complex color relationships. an iconic form - the bow - is used repeatedly to explore the tension between constriction and unfurling, bind and release.
Weather Bow (54" x 74")
I Will Hold Your Hand Through All of That Bow (60" x 90")
Fantasies Bow (60" x 90")
Albuquerque Bow (60" x 90")
Chart of A Mystic Bow (60" x 90")
Wisely and Gently Manhandled Into Transcendent Releases Bow (71" x 91")
Grandma's Pillows Bow (60 x 72)
Not Just Tolerate But Love You Because Bow (72" x 96")
Garden Bow (60" x 90")
Cuddle Bow (62" x 88")
I See It. You're Right. I'm Sorry. Bow (60" x 90")
Ruby Bow (60" x 90")
Unexpected Benefits Bow (72" x 96")
Wishing Bow (50" x 68")
Room 222 (60" x 90")
Dancing Bow (64" x 88")
Stage Bow (60" x 90")
Love Me Deeply Bow (60" x 90")
Swept Bow (52" x 68")
Ravished & Understood Bow (60" x 90")
Sarah Bow (48" x 72")
Boom! Bow (66" x 79")
Bed Bow (49" x 67")
Smooth Bow (63" x 63")
Attention Bow (72" x 108")
Erin Bow (60" x 70")
Megan Bow (60" x 72")
clients and commissions
celerie kemble
2022
chatham school
2021
ascip offices
2020
private residence
2019
In the Bows series, Silverstein focuses on a singular, recurring motif: the bow.
Traditionally associated with femininity, ornamentation, and gift-giving, the bow is reclaimed here as a potent visual symbol— assertive, emotional, containing multitudes. It is at once a knot and an ornament, a mechanism of binding and a gesture of celebration.
Each painting begins with Silverstein drawing a bow form—eyes half-closed, guided by emotion more than strict representation. These loose, intuitive gestures provide the foundation for a process of increasingly precise and formal decisions. The works resolve through “raking” reminiscent of a Zen sand garden in complex color relationships and repetitive surface rhythms. Flatness becomes a field for attention.
The Bows are a spiritual practice, speaking to the tension of constraint and unfurling, withholding and release, the extremes of either being tied-up/bound, or flapping in the wind without a center.
