Lisa Petker Mintz: Year of Hope and Flowers

 

Petker Mintz is an optimistic and forward-looking painter. During a year sequestered by Covid, she has created a series of works animated by harmony and beauty. The paintings feature florals and vines, done with washes of fresh color and lively plaid patterns. Collectively they express a sense of hope and straightforward pleasure. Playful arrangements of vines layered over one another record a passage of time as the layers in the back fade and the sharper ones come forward. The larger panels in soft blues, reds, and greens create a unified atmosphere of spring while the smaller works in the show come out as accents that invite the viewer to come closer for a more intimate experience. The floral motifs paired with splashes of color seem to signal new beginnings.  

The same concept carries over to the series of paintings dominated by geometric patterns layered on top of each other. They are heavier and darker than the floral series; Hans Hoffman’s push-pull color theory comes to mind. Petker Mintz plays with simple shapes and focuses on layering, balancing color, and controlling opacity. They display a high level of skill. The viewer is treated to striking abstractions, well-constructed in their own right, and also symbolic of the current atmosphere. When Petker Mintz combines fluid strokes of fresh greens and bright pink with compact notes of pattern and folk design, the paintings become lighter and more lyrical. The fast, broad brushwork moves the viewer’s eye through the work and takes you to a set of vibrant patterns packed into a small part of the work.   

The mixed media aspect of Lisa Petker Mintz’s work comes as a pleasant surprise when viewing the work in person. The texture of the different mediums adds a further dimension to the surface of these paintings, drawing the viewer in to explore the composition and construction more carefully. The shine of the acetate instantly catches the eye and serves to draw attention to the layers underneath. Imaginative, appealing, well painted, this is a good, unified series with a fair bit of variety too.