by MARGUERITTE TONBAZIAN

Artwork Description

Solstice Strata

48.0 x 36.0 inches

Born on June 21st, the Summer Solstice, at the height of light, my work examines the intersection of celestial physics and the human heartbeat. Solstice Strata approaches abstraction through process rather than representation, treating time as both subject and method. The work is constructed through cycles of accumulation, disruption, and partial removal. Acrylics form the primary structural medium, used alongside oil sticks, sprays, and other materials that register gesture, pressure, and duration. Embedded within the surface are references to North, South, East, and West—spatial coordinates that, when considered alongside time, introduce a fourth-dimensional framework. These layers form a visual topography shaped by rhythm, repetition, and interruption, where erosion and revelation are equally intentional. This approach reflects a contemporary mode of inquiry, distinct from Renaissance methods of observing and recording the world. Where figures such as Leonardo da Vinci sought to catalog knowledge through drawing and measurement, my process acknowledges wisdom as cumulative, evolving, and continuously revised. Solstice Strata engages with centuries of inquiry into space and time, not by documenting conclusions, but by embodying the ongoing act of learning. The work invites viewers to move beyond the literal measurement of seconds and instead sense the weight of years. Time is not presented as a line, but as a terrain—marked by cycles, resistance, and change. Through multi-layered visual chronologies, the piece proposes time as something experienced rather than counted.

Artwork Details

Medium: Painting Acrylic

Genre: Abstract