Jill Baroff
Jill Baroff’s mesmerising Tide Drawings are based on empirical data charting water levels at specific geographic locations. These works take the form of grids, concentric circles and linear works, sometimes arranged as large, singular pieces or presented as groups that cover an extended period. The drawings remind us of the tide’s cyclical ebb and flow and, increasingly, reference data collected during hurricanes and other atypical weather patterns.
Tides and Hudson River drawings reflect Baroff’s upbringing near New York Harbour. The materiality of Japanese gampi, on which she draws, references Baroff’s time in Kyoto. Indeed, Baroff, who resides with a view of the Hudson River, often travels and exhibits in Japan and Europe.
In other drawings, Baroff plays with geometry and creates a new space where unrestricted forms can explore their unruliness. By cutting out painted borders on paper and submerging them in water, the geometry folds in on itself, resulting in dynamic artwork. Baroff’s practice innovates self-structuring shapes and pays homage to their fundamental forms. This notion of self-structuring also harks back to the Tide Drawings, whose patterns are determined by raw tidal data.
Recently, Jill Baroff revisited spatial and sculptural concerns in her work. Wood reliefs translate the language of her earlier drawings into three-dimensional space and introduce a bold colour palette that enhances both the graphical and architectural qualities of these works.
