Story Place: My Father's Country 2005

Sally Gabori made this painting, Story Place: My Father's Country, with what looks like acrylic paint, in a riot of pinks, reds, blues, and yellows. It's a map of sorts, maybe even a world, that came to life with each brushstroke, a dance of intuition and memory. I can imagine Sally standing before the canvas, thinking of her father's country and letting the stories and colors rise up from within her. She's pushing the paint around, maybe with a big brush, building up these bold, bright shapes. There are so many juicy colors. The paint isn't too thick but it has enough body that it sits up on the canvas, giving it a real presence. Look at the way the colors vibrate against each other, clashing and singing at the same time. It reminds me of other painters, like Hilma af Klint, who were also mapping unseen worlds with their own visual languages. Gabori's work speaks to the power of painting as a form of embodied expression, one that embraces ambiguity and welcomes multiple interpretations.