To borrow a phrase from Robert Venturi, Annette Cords’ most recent artworks belong to the world of “Both-And”; they are hybrids. The 14 pieces on view in her current solo exhibition at AxD Gallery are both paintings and monoprints. They are paintings in the sense that they employ paint (hand-mixed acrylics). The are prints in the sense that the paint is not applied with a brush, but rather in the manner of block printing – with the paint being applied to a variety of found objects that in turn are used to “stamp” the paint into the canvas or panel surface. Occasionally paint is also dripped, either as individual drops or in threadlike skeins.

Selected works by Annette Cords at AxD Gallery

Ms. Cords’ work is also “Both-And” in its simultaneously inhabiting the worlds of order and chaos, the controlled and the serendipitous. Seen from a distance or as a small reproduction, Ms. Cords’ work appears to be digital – evoking the pulsing instrumentation of oscilloscopes or thermal imaging machines. Seen in person, up close, the works are very sensual and diverse. While patterning exists on a macro level, intimacy with the work reveals no exact repeats. It is as though we are looking through a microscope with one eye, admiring the crystalline uniqueness of each snowflake, while also taking in the beauty of a whole glittering winter landscape simultaneously.

Ed Barnhart, AIA