Xylor Jane

Wingate Studio is honored to present three new etchings created with Xylor Jane. Entitled 23’s, Five, and Triangular numbers under 100, each print in the series is composed of a linear composition overlaid with an aquatint featuring numerical themes in different color sequences.

The artist began each etching with a linear image guided by progressing rules using four colors, rotating the paper after each rule is drawn, and always pulling the drawing implement toward her heart. This system emerged from Jane’s daily drawing practice, which she began almost twenty years ago.

As with every aspect of her work, each number holds meaning and beauty for Jane. The artist adapted Five from the sculpture created by Robert Indiana in 1985, while 23’s features a mirrored 23 in the pixelated font from the original Mario Bros. video game. Triangular numbers under 100 is based on a woodblock print Jane created in 2008 and depicts the twelve triangular numbers under 100, an homage to their figurate quality.

Emblematic of Jane’s vocabulary of geometry, each of the 3 numbered plates is abstracted by a system of diagonals that both integrate and interrupt the simple read. The positive and negative space of the numerals is described by bold saturated colors fading into a subtle gradient shift. The tension between the drawn grid and the fractured numerals creates a shifting perception of the figure/ground relationship, as the lines move in and out of the image.

In the Studio

Xylor Jane (b. 1964) was born in Long Beach, CA and lives and works in Greenfield, Massachusetts. In her work, Jane orchestrates thousands of tiny dots into complex chromatic, spatial, and numeric systems-based paintings. Her work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions internationally, including at the University Museum of Contemporary Art, Amherst, MA; Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Monica, CA; Canada, New York, NY; Parrasch Heijnen, Los Angeles, CA; Campoli Prest, Paris; Almine Rech, Paris; Four, Dublin; among others. Her work is permanently held in the Collezione Maramotti, Reggio Emilia, Italy; Hall Collection, Reading, VT; and University Museum of Contemporary Art, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA; as well as private collections internationally. Jane earned her BFA from San Francisco Art Institute in 1993 and is represented by Canada Gallery, New York, NY and Parrasch Heijnen, Los Angeles, CA.