ANNA TORK
Brooklyn-based artist Anna Tork lives in Williamsburg, a neighborhood known for its polished skyline and gritty street art. Her daily walks along the water draw in this beautiful contrast of the permanent sculpture of building lines, the whimsical curvature of graffiti, and the nature in between.
Anna discovered modern art as an adult with its freedom to choose how to define structure in one’s work. Physical places and seasonality are referenced through compositions of shapes, lines, and mists. In prior works, these landscapes ranged from 49 Palms Oasis Trail in Joshua Tree to Lakeside in Italy’s Lake Como. In her newest collection, “Get The Balance Right,” Anna explores more abstract concepts like harmony in daily life.
Key to the artist’s practice is taking a few months in between series to explore new techniques and concepts — a time for the messy and imperfect. This experimentation leads to sketching, sketching leads to repetition, and repetition creates the space for inner flow:
“I sketch all the time in my daily life. Playing a core set of elements and colors until I’ve caught that wonderful sense of balance in the piece.”
Tork’s abstract art features a blend of acrylic, pastels, and spray paint on cotton canvas. Charcoal, graphite, and colored pencils also feature from time to time. Working outdoors and indoors allows her to take in her surroundings and interact with people. On the surface, it’s about New York City, street art, and sculpture. But it’s also about intentionality and balance.
Get The Balance Right
Juggling through life, balancing by forcing things to fit. A new year, a subtle shift into a softer approach. Setting dedicated time, saying no, making space for immersing into the practice. Getting the balance right.
This series was largely inspired by an unlikely union between sculpture and graffiti. By abstracting the graffiti lettering into rounded forms and taking the polish of sculpture, the work has a push and pull between refinement and rawness, creating harmony between the two. The result is a new look to street art that can be brought inside a home.
For this series, I consciously stripped the palette down to a few select colors and reduced the mediums, so I had endless possibilities with form. Sketching was vital to this collection, playing a core set of elements and colors until I’ve caught that wonderful sense of balance in the piece.
In the end, the work is filled with intentional harmony across structured edges, delicate lines, rounded forms, and misty sprays, which feels reflective of where it was made.
“Staring at the sea” (SOLD)
“And then there’s the light” (SOLD)
“All the paths we could have taken” (SOLD)
“Kite catching the wind just right” (SOLD)
“On Wythe & First” (SOLD)
“Dominos falling down” (SOLD)
“Noguchi Garden” (SOLD)
“And what we seek is what we choose” (SOLD)
“Pretty much halfway” (SOLD)
“I want to see you through” (SOLD)
“Give a piece, and get one too” (SOLD)
"What you know is better, is brighter” (SOLD)
“And you don't have to brave this on your own”
“Repetitions” (SOLD)
"Before the moon leaves for the night" (SOLD)
"The Vase"
"Get the Balance Right" (SOLD)