Brigitte Balbinot

“With each one of my paintings,” writes Brigitte Balbinot, “I try to convey an inner feeling of being drawn into another universe, a new dimension.” The self-taught artist, who splits her time between Montreal and Miami, creates dynamic, swirling galaxies of abstract acrylic colors. Each piece has its own strong gravitational pull, with different color choices and styles of application creating an incredible layering of contrasting forms that nonetheless reach a powerful kind of harmony.

Each of Balbinot’s large-format canvases deploys a system of at least two dominant tones (often red and gray) and at least three distinct types of brushstroke. The rich, monochrome bottom layer conveys an overall sense of direction, usually in a strong diagonal or horizontal pattern, against which a second set of bold, thick expressionistic brushstrokes seems to fight, twisting and stretching to reach across the canvas. Finally, light and playful lines and drips seem to almost dance atop the roiling color forms. Balbinot’s stunning painted universes expand constantly.