About My Work

My art work is an inquiry into non-literal communication—what we can experience and know through the invention of new forms. Using various media I pursue imagery that is undefined, but sometimes suggestive; physically substantial, but oftentimes pictorial; devoid of symbols, but seemingly about something in some indirect way. I am interested in imagery that does not convey or reinforce existent information.

-Sally Havlis

Sally Havlis’s works transform imperfection and awkwardness into startling beauty consisting of folds, shadows, and a myriad of subtle and fleeting moments that continue to occur as one looks at them from various angles. The pieces delight the eye, subverting geometric pattern and form into something a bit more off-kilter, but fascinating. It’s impossible to take them in at a glance — there’s so much going on. The “macho” manipulation of large sheets of acrylic paint necessary to make the pieces is undercut by her references to domesticity (pillows, the soft folds of women’s clothes) that deliver a sly, transgressive wink to male-dominated Modernism.

JENNY ROBERTS