Signs form a language, but not the one you think you know. ― Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities
I find inspiration in the overlooked pockets of greenery that persist amidst concrete, steel, and uncultivated terrains. My work serves as a dialogue between my ruminations about life, memories, desires, climate, and the tenacity of nature. The unnurtured spaces that bloom amidst a cement urban landscape are potent metaphors for resilience and illustrate how nature adapts and flourishes despite harsh conditions and human intervention.
My background in typography and graphic design deeply informs my artmaking. Rather than creating literal representations, I distill complex forms into an abstract vocabulary of marks and shapes referencing botanical structures. Improvisation and movement are fundamental to my working process and stem from my ongoing engagement in contemporary dance. This influence also manifests in my mark-making's gestural and rhythmic quality; I transverse the picture plane, allowing each decision to determine the next and letting the composition change and emerge organically. My palette includes hand-mixing pigments to achieve colors that evoke the ethereal beauty of transitional moments—the soft glow of pre-dawn light and the shifting hues of dusk. Through my paintings and drawings, I aim to create spaces for contemplation for myself and others, inviting the viewers to pause and find resonance in the often overlooked.
BIO
Abby Goldstein was born in Chicago Illinois, she received a BFA from Pratt Institute, NY, and an MFA from the School of Visual Arts, NY. Abby is based in Brooklyn and holds the position of Clinical Professor of Art and heads the Graphic Design area of study at Fordham University, NY. Recent exhibitions include GarveySimon Selections 2024, Transmitter Gallery, McKenzie Fine Art, Metaphor Art Projects, and Kentler International Art Space. She has received fellowships to the Sam and Adele Golden Foundation, Hambidge Center for Creative Arts & Science, Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts, Vermont Studio Center, Virginia Center for Creative Arts, Willapa Bay Artist fellowship, and Yaddo. Public commissions and curatorial work include Gateway Center in East New York, Manhattan Bridge Bicycle Path, and the NYC Street Design Manual exhibition at the Ildiko Butler Gallery, Fordham University, NY. She has been a TDC International Design Organization board member and co-chair of their annual competition. Ms. Goldstein has received numerous awards for her design work and has collaborated on several books, including Noisy Autumn: Sculpture and Works on Paper by Christy Rupp, Year By Year Poems by Lynne Sachs; "Revival Type" with Paul Shaw, and is the co-designer of the award-winning book, "Helvetica and the New York City Subway System."