Gretchen Albrecht
Shadow of Land

In Gretchen Albrecht’s works on copper, the artist pairs oil paint with copper patina to uncover new visual possibilities. While making use of the hemisphere and oval formats central to her practice, these works’ diameters measure approximately 35-40cm, creating intimate worlds that draw the viewer closer. Building on a lineage of artists who, for centuries, have been attracted by the unique properties of copper, Albrecht embraces its unique materiality, using alchemical reactions to enliven her surface and draw out new colours, textures and forms from the metal. She responds intuitively to these material expressions in her gestural paint application, her use of colour, her incorporation of geometric shapes, and her titling of the works, revealing such imagery as shifting landforms, starry skies and swirling pools of verdigris.