For more than 30 years, Ellen Berkenblit has been exploring line in her large-scale, exuberant paintings, combining an Abstract Expressionistic style with comic strip characters of her own invention. Though the recurring figure of a young girl and her animal consorts suggest narratives, Berkenblit sees these figures as collections of lines, devices that organize and drive her overall composition. As she explains: “The figures I choose have one purpose: they carry the line that I wish to draw. The figures are not symbolic; they don’t represent anyone or anything in particular. They are the perfect excuse to get the first line going.”

I’m constantly pulled to Ellen Berkenblit’s high velocity lexicon of female forms. I feel like I’m getting snapshots from another dimension – her carefully observed moments – silence, urgency, tenderness – unexpectedly manifest in urgent, almost athletic brush strokes. Ellen’s path is entirely her own, while at the same time offering an example in strength and beauty. -Dan Nadel