Citrus is the object. Jazz is the subject.

WAYS OF SEEING

In these paintings, KNight explores perception. Players in her paintings dissolve into radioactive light. Others are obscured in saturated shadows. 

"Artists are afraid of beauty. Physicists embrace it." 
                                                         - David Hockney

JAZZ AND THE FLOATING WORLD

Inspired by Japanese Ukiyo-e artists Hiroshige and Hokusai, KNight uses the calming, abstract stillness that comes from graduated color and juxtaposes it with the crackle and pop of the play of light. Informed by these Japanese artists and the jazz music she loves, she pushes flat abstraction up against deep space to distill and surprise.

Her titles say it all. KNight's "art community" is filled with jazz greats: the invention of Miles and  Coltrane, the humor and surprise of Mingus and Monk, the musical architecture of Bill Evans and the uplifting optimism of Brubeck. She calls on their innovation and willingness to fail, as models for creating something fresh and unpredictable within the traditions of what has gone before. She finds humanity in their willingness to teach.

Jazz and painting share many of the same concerns: color, space, texture and tempo. Learning from jazz musicians, KNight starts with the familiar and improvises. Pushing space, she is willing to be misunderstood to discover something new. The result takes what we thought we knew and helps us see it fresh.

ASIAN PERSPECTIVE ON SPACE

Perspective is illusion. In the intimate scale of these gem-like paintings, KNight plays with the differences between Eastern and Western notions of perspective and space, exploring different ways of seeing.

"Parallel straight lines do not meet one another in either direction." - Euclid

Asian art offers paintings comprised of multiple perspectives. We feel as if we are moving through the scene.

Contrast this with the flat space found in the decorative panels of Persian miniatures. Combine these ways of seeing and you have visual jazz.

Citrus Jazz paintings are original oil on wood panel, 9" X 9"

Availability of paintings changes as they sell.

Please note that all images on this website are low resolution and have a limited color palette. The real images in person are much more intense and luscious and beautiful.