art or science?

Jaq Chartier's abstract paintings speak to a contemporary mix of art and science. I've seen a few of her paintings in person at the Elizabeth Leach gallery and they were amazing. There is a luminescent, translucent quality to her work that feels luxurious, mysterious and very rich. But these aren't just pretty paintings. They are also studies of the qualities of fugitive dyes and stains, charting "scientifically" how they "leach, bloom, merge and mutate." The catalogue, Testing describes the influence of recent genetic and genomic research on many artists work including Jaq Chartier's. It feels clear, when looking at Chartier's work, that these visual explorations are deeply relevant to the times we live in. Times that are seeing unprecedented scientific advances while at the same time, deeply impacted by disease like AIDS, the fear of global pandemics and the threat of biological warfare. Unchartered and sometimes very scary times indeed, but with Chartier's voice in the mix the results are both stunning and very modern, nonetheless.