Philadelphia-based artist, Florence Weisz, has worked for over forty years with various collage techniques. Among these experimentations, Weisz developed a body of work purely dedicated to the dismantling and reconfiguring of stripes. Weisz’s process utilizes personal photographs of individuals wearing stripes as her foundation. First through selection, and then through maximization, she expands the stripes to reveal their potential. As Weisz states, “I am intrigued by how stripes, which are simply rigid patterns of parallel lines, can appear organic and undulating.” 

Weisz’s fascination with the aesthetic potential of stripes is illustrated through the resulting three-dimensional wall hangings. The flat and planar explode from the surface to encompass the space, composing the lines into a cacophony of movement. Such a fundamental element, the line, escapes and interrupts a wholly different spatial dimension. This transformation becomes an opportunity to view the line as structurally essential, while simultaneously revealing its versatility. Weisz’s keen interest in, and advocacy for, this basic element allows us a moment of reflection and inspiration. 

Years in the making, this site-specific installation is the largest and most complex manifestation of Weisz’s STRIPES series. While working with a variety of surfaces in the past, this project required Weisz to employ new materials and techniques to construct an immersive organism, surpassing previous notions that the stripes have demonstrated. Often unnoticed, the concept of the line takes the main stage as the aesthetic core. 

E. Avery Draper Gallery