Ablate Boxes

Coit’s Ablate series came about as a result of her Firstlight paintings, which had to be meticulously taped in order to control the oil paint. While the Firstlight series was so precise and neat that the viewer slid into their surfaces, the Ablate series was the exposed skeleton of those smooth paintings, composed partially of paper, text, and the preserved tape with its colorful patches and painterly overflow.

“The Ablate boxes…are energized yet intimate works…Sealed-off, lucite dioramas, they seductively invite the viewer to explore the skeletal, surgically carved paper pop- ups that the artist’s cuts have produced, while, at the same time, luring the viewer to look above, below, and through their crystal containers to discover more about the multi-color, painted abstractions, light, and shadow all trapped inside. Lined with mirrors, however, they turn the tables on the viewer, reflecting back our own visual curiosity in a Duchampian gesture designed to catch us in the act.” - Jennie Hirsh, from “Before and After Language: The Art of Madelin Coit”