Thomias Radin 4 solo for a bittersweet symphony, 2025

4 solo for a bittersweet symphony, in format, color, and composition, stands in a delicate balance of stillness and movement. Composed to function both as a singular panel and right half of a diptych (with 2 dimensions for one reality), the paining is part of a group of works by the artist that converge on the motif of Icarus.

Executed in oil on wooden panel, the painting depicts a wide sea beneath purplish clouds pushed into the background by tarnished expanses. Their muddy brown occupies most of the pictorial space, urging into the work’s foreground, reminiscent of rock formations or the remainders of unprimed canvas characteristic for Radin’s compositional style. Wile the murky foreground reads as both sign and nothing, representing some sort of tabula rasa, the work’s titular pointe bespeaks four rhythmically sequenced arcs that appear to float in space.