The In-Between Worlds of Larissa Borteh

Paintings combine image and elongated marks built from thinned, viscous oil paint. Tactile surfaces shift smoothly between still life and ethereal abstractions, creating worlds that constantly transform. The works keep outcomes uncertain, while material individuality stands out against approaches that treat paint only as a means to an end. An exhibition includes multiple paintings with varied sizes. Color and subject matter are intertwined, with semi-transparent grounds and layered densities shaping how forms appear. Diagonal rifts and visible brushstrokes divide plant containers into distinct spatial zones. Viscosity and brush trails activate the entire surface, while legibility versus opacity becomes central to how viewers interpret what they see.

"Borteh's merging of image and elongated mark reminded me of fingerpainting. Built up by thinned, viscous oil paint, Borteh's tactile surfaces dance smoothly between still life and ethereal abstractions. Are we looking at plants in a state of beautiful decay, ghosts, deities, fairylands, or something from a dream? The world Borteh conjures up is in constant transformation, but we are never sure of the outcome. The material individuality of her works stands out at a time when many artists use paint solely as a means to an end."

"There are a dozen paintings in the exhibition, ranging between 16 x 20 inches (~41 x 51 cm) and 60 x 72 inches (~1.5 x 1.8 m). They are as much about their subjects, however elusive, as they are about color. In "Tending and Receiving" (2026), Borteh lays down a semi-transparent ground of different densities of magenta into which she paints two containers of plants. A diagonal rift rising from the bottom right edge, with visible brushstrokes laid across the rift at an angle, divides them from what might be a third."

"The viscosity of the paint, and the trails left by the brush, activate the entire surface. On the left side, and anchoring the composition, two green stalks grow out of a large semi-transparent pot. We intuitively measure everything else's legibility in the painting against this. The spectrum between legibility and opacity is the crux of Borteh's paintings. We look at the world and instinctively name what we see based on o"

Read at Hyperallergic