Dark Sinistral

"Dark Sinstral" brings to mind snowflakes, cell organization, or perhaps celestial or cosmological phenomena. In sum, the painting reflects Polllack's ongoing interest in depicting his vision of the building blocks of nature on what appears to be the molecular level. Bodies and organic life are composed of cells; solids, like stone and metal, are composed of crystalline aggregates, and so forth. However, this is more than an exercise in scientific illustration by way of precisionist abstraction. Pollack imbues his paintings with a life-generating force that links the abstract to the scientist. Here (and in several works in this series), the mandala-like composition emanates an intense brightness as if the painting were alive. The viewer is apt to at first believe that the uncanny lighting effects are the result of dramatic gallery lighting, rather than Pollack's technical ability to paint pulsing energy with such skill that this work seems to glow from within.