Ember Milk Rose

"Ember Milk Rose," is a small panel painting with a smooth, mysterious surface. Beneath a clouded, wispy membrane that seems suspended over the surface one can see a swirling, ember-hot suggestion of fire - or even blood below. The irregular patterns that seem to form call to mind the ribcage, spinal column, or MRI digital diagonstic read-outs. At once ethereal and highly corporeal, the painting acheives its delicate balance between bodily analogies and cloud through Grassi's labor-intensive, time consuming studio practices. She refers to her process as one of destruction, as paint is laid down, allowed to dry and then rubbed, scrubbed, abraded, layered again, sanded, and reapplied through unusual means. In the process an image or a visual theme is suggested and she takes her cues from this experience of gradually revealed and discovered content. This painting makes that complex physical, emotional, and intellectual process visible.