Emily Berger’s abstract paintings are the product of an intuitive process. They are a give and take of expressive line and harmonizing color that often has a way of building and shaping the work. There are lines that appear and recede creating buoyant gesture and rhythmic movement, while other times wispy masses of patched together color quivers like leaves in a soft breeze. We see the familiar here and there, the suggestion of something tangible, something solid, yet we are unsure enough in our suppositions to keep both open and focused, and in a mildly meditative state, as we search for the message in the medium.

The same state of mind, that open focus is also employed in the making these works. There must be that balance between discerning concentration and fluid expectations to be successful with Berger’s methods. There must be that willingness to find hidden in the marks and movements a synergy of form, emotion and aesthetics that comes with each piece, an end result that happens at its own pace and time.

Berger has achieved a wonderful balance between the lessons of the Modern Era and the current state of Contemporary Art as she settles into a world of great substance and well as boundless freedom.