SYDNEY ALBERTINI

Featuring a new body of work created over the past eight months, the exhibition centres on Albertini’s exploration of what she describes as “organising chaos”. The works begin as an experiment, visceral movements composed of dense constellations of line, colour and pattern. Through a spontaneous and intuitive process, these elements are gradually resolved into compositions in which rhythm, colour and form interact, balancing intensity with moments of calm.

Kraft paper plays a central role in her practice, functioning not merely as a support but as an active material presence. Its warm, muted tones temper the vibrancy of Albertini’s palette, establishing a subtle equilibrium between positive and negative space, and between the figurative and the abstract. Long associated with utility and versatility, Kraft paper offers the artist a sense of liberation from more formal media, creating a space in which experimentation and spontaneity unfold. Within this framework, Albertini demonstrates increasing confidence in her use of colour, deploying bold, vibrant hues across the surface. Each work retains a palpable sense of energy and openness, as she navigates the interplay between colour, pattern and form with an almost playful sensibility.

Works on Paper brings together recent works from three principal series: Botanicals, Movements and Glass.

The Glass series draws inspiration from the piano études of Philip Glass. Albertini approaches drawing as a performative act, working with both hands simultaneously to echo the gestures of a pianist. Line expands freely across the surface, guided by rhythm and emotion rather than predetermined form, translating music into expressive patterns that evoke the resonance and intensity of sound.

The Botanicals series reflects Albertini’s ongoing exploration of colour as a mode of communication. Inspired by the vitality of her natural surroundings, these works do not seek to depict nature literally. Instead, botanical forms are transformed through layering and improvisation, with colour acting as the primary structural element.

The Movements series focuses on the dynamic relationship between the figurative and the abstract. Charged with energy, these works evoke the body through fluid arrangements of line and pattern. Albertini distils the figure to its essential presence, capturing the vitality of the body in motion.

Works on Paper invites the viewer into Albertini’s richly layered practice, revealing both the breadth and coherence of her artistic language.

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Sydney Albertini (b.1973, Paris) is a French multidisciplinary artist based in Amagansett, Long Island, whose artwork explores the themes and techniques normally associated with what society calls ‘women’s craft.’

Albertini creates both two-dimensional works, in the form of large painted drawings, embroideries, quilts and weavings, and three-dimensional pieces, with a focus on traditional fibre techniques such as knits and fabrics. Vividly colourful and irreverently abstract, Albertini’s works are full of energy and movement, with even the subjects of her paintings seeming to wriggle off the canvas. Every new series of works continues to explore relationships both strictly visual (flat versus volume and time) and emotional (man versus woman, individual versus society).

Albertini attended the Atelier de Sèvres in Paris and then studied fresco painting at the International Studio Art Centre in Florence. “In Italy, I learned how to do frescoes, so it was all about colours and narrative,” she says. “The narrative focus from the Italian Renaissance completely influenced me. My work is based on that same aspect: piecing things together to tell a story.” She then moved to New York in 2002 to study fine art at Parsons School of Design, and she showed with Ille Arts and Ashawagh Hall, Duck Creek Arts Centre, and the Parrish Museum. Her work is held in many USA private and public art collections, such as the Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, USA and Guild Hall in East Hampton, USA.