126 http://www.AmericanArtCollector.com
1
Fluttering Lumens,
oil on canvas,
72 x 72"
2
New York City,
oil on canvas,
60 x 40"
3
Desert City,
oil on canvas,
60 x 40"
4
Alexandra Pacula
in her studio.A
lexandra Pacula takes her dog for a
walk among the trees and forests of
rural Pennsylvania and then returns to her
studio to work on large, vibrant paintings
of city lights at night.
“In grad school I acquired my first digital
camera,” she says. “I loved photographing
the light and color of the city when I was
out at night. Sometimes I moved the
camera and I decided to paint the blurred
photos that you’d normally throw out. Now,
I deliberately move the camera. The move-ment creates the energy.”
She starts out with carefully measured
perspective and counts the windows on
the buildings. Admitting, “I love color and
I love paint," she then sets out to “choose
a specific kind of gesture and carry it
through the image.”
In Fluttering Lumens she has chosen a
birdlike brushstroke to express the light on
the bridge and the windows of the build-
ings. At 6-feet square, the brushstrokes
are lusciously visible as paint but becomeblurred light sources and reflections as you
step back. “I want the viewer to experience
the paintings both ways,” she says.
The play of abstraction and realism
creates its own dynamic energy along
with the light and color. In Desert City
she “punched the color to create the warm
feeling of Dubai, the city in the desert.”
Her painting of New York City is
recognizable by the Freedom Tower on
the horizon. Carefully drawn in the under-
painting, she created the “dripping light”ALEXANDRA PACULAMegacity
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