In Monkey Moves, Laurie Thomas continues her exploration of abstraction, drawing and color. Thomas’s work bridges the intimate physicality of painting and the sense of movement experienced by the viewer. Encompassing story, time and architecture, the paintings possess both a rich, riotous feel and a subtle, reductive sensibility. The handling of surface and markings are essential to Thomas’s painting. The layering of paint and strong depth of color field breathe life into her Monkey Moves series. On each canvas a story unfolds.

See Do Stop, for example, is a small oil on linen work (12×16 in.) built of thick earth colors with broad strokes and abstract depictions of the monkey and its environment. Immediately, the viewer discerns the blank face of the monkey and feels the imminent change to repose from swinging on a line. She Gorilla Spin, on the other hand, is a large-scale piece (60×48 in.) painted in pastel blues and whites with a light touch and soft edges. Thomas employs deliberate brush strokes to delineate an intelligence and possible sense of wisdom behind the eyes.