Bows

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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 an improvisational tracing of a bow form—guided by the emotional texture of the moment, more by sensation than by strict representation. These loose, intuitive gestures provide the foundation for increasingly precise and formal decisions. The works resolve through finely complex color relationships and repetitive surface rhythms reminiscent of raked sand in a Zen garden. Flatness becomes a field for attention. They suggest moments of withholding and release—sites where intimacy and performance intersect. 

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The Fantastical Reconstruction of the Epine GY7: MoCA Tucson