Stephanie Petet

My work unfolds as an ongoing interplay of variables and vibrations, reflecting an infinite mirror of time, choice, and response. Through abstraction, I explore the tension between structure and spontaneity, balancing control and chance within each piece. Rooted in color relationships, composition, and experimentation, the process becomes a personal dialogue shaped equally by disciplined study and instinctual discovery.

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Each painting begins with a negotiation between addition and subtraction. I often employ wiping, scraping, and sanding to regulate the internal light of the work, resisting the urge to overwork its surface. These layers operate as a metaphor for time, with each stratum representing an unfolding moment. My mark-making and palettes are influenced by my interests in frequency, sound, and space, carefully tuned to evoke sensation. I think of color as the driving force of a melody, while lines and marks act as frequencies to be dialed in.

 

Tempo, rhythm, dynamics, and pitch inform the spatial organization, guiding the energy of each gesture and its placement. The physical scale of each piece is punctuated by shifts in value, saturation, and opacity, generating tension and harmony in equal measure.

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At its core, my practice is rooted in process-based abstraction, propelled by the interaction of music, sound, electricity, and spirit. I welcome chance as part of the work, using layering to evoke both time spent and uncertainty. Each action tests the endurance of materials as well as intuition, pushing the work toward resolution—or collapse.

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Ultimately, my paintings are explorations of vibration: sensorial experiences born from the interplay of color, form, and texture. The pendulum of rigor and instinct swings throughout my process, converting potential energy into kinetic energy. Each piece vibrates with its own frequency, inviting viewers to engage both aesthetically and conceptually with the unfolding of time and space.

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This survey of works from the past three years—spanning 2022 to the present—marks a period of both personal and artistic transformation. After completing my MFA in Painting at Boston University (2022–2024) and

relocating to southern Missouri, I’ve been reflecting on a life shaped by the South, international residencies, and a decade of touring and writing music with my band, Witchsister. Moving from the intensity of the city to a smaller community has shifted my perspective, reminding me that distance is not measured in swipes or shortcuts, but through time, effort, and lived experience.

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The paintings presented here explore the tension between distance and proximity, both physical and emotional. Scale and placement are deliberately arranged to mirror this elasticity of perspective, inviting the viewer to notice how their body engages each work: Does the piece pull you in or hold you at bay? Does it sharpen vision or blur it into ambiguity?

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These paintings resist easy interpretation. They perform color and space boldly, yet simmer with subtler sensations—sound as waves, music as structure, energy as both tangible and intangible. The gallery itself becomes a fourth dimension, where clarity and confusion, presence and absence, coexist.