Grossman Ensemble premieres Sarah Gibson's "Soak Stain"
Program notes:
An innovative technique created by American abstract expressionist painter Helen Frankenthaler, “soak stain” involves diluting acrylic paint until it is fluid enough to pour onto a raw canvas from a coffee can. In Frankenthaler’s paintings, this technique allows one to see a color compete and blend with its contiguous rival. I love this approach and the way it provides both structured blocks of color in Frankenthaler’s works and leaves amoebalike and uneven edges as various colors meet. In my piece, I try to play with this idea by evoking clear formal structures defined by liquid melodies and melting textures.
Sarah Gibson's piece Soak Stain premiered with the Grossman Ensemble on May 19, 2023.