5301 South Dixie Highway  West Palm Beach , Fl 33405  
561 588 1965   561 588 1942  Fax  561 383 2985
     Kazimira Rachfal's paintings ask a difficult question: How much
experience can be embodied within a distilled pictorial vocabulary, in
bare-bones geometric structures and encompassing slurs of oil paint?
It's not a new question: Twentieth century artists — the Russian
Suprematist Kazimir Malevich, for instance, or the contemporary Swiss
painter Helmut Federle — have pursued it with dogged persistence.
Spiritual longings have often been a component of that goal, as has a
stringent attention to pictorial form. Individuality, being what it is, can
discover unexpected facets of a tradition. Rachfal's extension of this
one is profoundly considered and quietly ambitious.
Quiet because of the work's unassuming tenor. Scale has something to
do with it — Rachfal's pictures are notably small in format — as does an
aversion to flashy gestures. Moving with sober intent, her brush
achieves a monumental presence and never stops questioning its own
imperatives. The palette is muted and earthy; the light emanating from
it silvery in tone and fraught with deep-seated emotions.
Rachfal is a slow painter. Her pictures require as much dedication and
engagement on the part of the viewer as they did for the artist. The
work isn't easy or immediate; it asks for a lot. That's the challenge of
the paintings — and their pleasure. Whatever “meaning” ascribed to
Rachfal's art is less important than the encounter with it. We don't have
to name something in order to perceive its sincerity, depth and
aesthetic worth. It's enough that Rachfal provides it for our delectation.
Rachfal is incapable of taking an easy out in resolving her pictures;
they're hard-won and sure. Her “search” is embodied in the work's
layered and often scarred surfaces. Rachfal cites Balthus (she's not
beholden to abstract artists alone): His “quest, [as] a form of
pilgrimage” provides an anchor and an inspiration. You sense that the
characteristic of art-making Rachfal prizes most is integrity of process
and image. Beauty is an integral component of that outcome. Rachfal
traces her pursuit with palpable and welcome gravity.
-Mario Naves
Contemporary