An interview with:
TABITHA WHITLEY
at The Untitled Space, New York
October 18, 2024
The Untitled Space presents Tabitha Whitley's debut solo exhibition, curated by Indira Cesarine. Whitley, a fifth-generation New Yorker, engages with the phenomenology of urban space through a sophisticated material practice. Her paintings employ chromatic under-painting techniques that subvert traditional grisaille methods, emphasizing subjective experience over mimetic representation. This approach is counterbalanced by her linocuts, which demonstrate a rigorous investigation of mark-making through the constraints of relief printing. Whitley's graphite drawings serve as a third methodological approach, where tonal gradations and decisive marks create nuanced studies of light and shadow.
The exhibition reveals Whitley's exploration of light as both a formal element and a metaphorical device. Her treatment of filtered light and atmospheric effects transcends mere observation, transforming familiar urban scenes into investigations of presence and collective memory.
In the following interview, Whitley discusses her technical methodologies, the dialectical relationship between her drawing, painting, and printmaking practices, and how the spatial politics of Brooklyn inform her artistic vision.
Closing reception at The Untitled Space, Tribeca: Saturday, 1-3 PM Images courtesy of the artist and gallery.
TUSSLE: "Your linocuts possess a commanding material presence, while your paintings reveal a more atmospheric approach. How do these distinct languages—one of precise incision, the other of layered fluidity—inform and challenge each other? What discoveries emerge from this dialogue between techniques?
Tabitha Whitley: I've been painting for most of my life but I have only started to work with relief printmaking within the past 10 years. I found that to work in this new material I had to discover a new language to express myself with. Once I removed the color from my process all my expression became focused on mark-making and tone. In linocut printmaking, I use different-sized gouges to carve marks into the surface of linoleum so I can then roll ink into the relief to create a print. This process can be very unforgiving, once a mark is carved there's no removing it so that forces me to change my approach and how I strategize when I'm working in this medium. It brings my focus a lot more to how I'm able to express myself through bold marks as well as light and shadow. Some printmakers do use multiple colors within a linocut print but I prefer to keep my prints monochromatic. I think it's another form of self-discovery to completely change how you work as an artist but still see what parts of yourself are still visible across different mediums. I feel that working in this way makes me more conscious of how I'm using marks to express myself when I come back to my paintings after printmaking for a while.
TUSSLE: Color in your work operates as both an emotional catalyst and a cultural signifier. How does your technical approach to underpainting, particularly in its relationship to light, shape your exploration of color as a carrier of memory and experience?
TW: The underpainting sets the stage for the overall piece. Traditionally when an artist uses an under painting they typically pick a natural color like brown and use white to build out the light and that helps you to create a tonal hierarchy, so you can compose where all of the light is going to fall in your painting. I like to go a little against tradition and use very bold chromatic colors for my underpaintings. If I know I'm painting a scene from a park that's full of green grass and trees I'll make the underpainting a very bold red which is an opportunity for me to express the energy I feel in that space as opposed to attempting to recreate nature.
TUSSLE: There's an intriguing negotiation in your work between control and spontaneity, between representation and abstraction. How do you navigate this territory, and how does this exploration relate to the paint's capacity to capture moments of both reflection and celebration?
TW: I want to go into my paintings with what I call a “loose itinerary” meaning I have a plan but there's a lot of opportunity for change and deviation within that plan. By starting with a monochromatic underpainting, I have an established drawing and light scheme but what I do on top of that is entirely up to me. I like to have highly finished human subjects within my paintings but the amount of detail that I put into my background, or their clothing is up to how I'm feeling when I get to that part of the piece. There may be moments where I put a lot of attention into the texture of the bark of a tree and then leave the grass blades around it very loose and gestural. I allow my brush to make marks and try not to take things too seriously. I think that it really gets to the core of what's fun about painting. It takes me back to childhood when you're not thinking about what the outcome is you're just happy to move the paint around. Since so much of this body of work is revisiting themes from my early life it feels appropriate to bring that childlike spontaneity to the work.
TUSSLE: The quiet moments you depict—these intimate urban scenes—seem to speak to both personal and universal experiences. How do you employ light and color to bridge the gap between individual memory and shared understanding? What role does place play in this translation?
TW: I think that as an artist the more specific I can be with my subjects the more universal the themes become. I've painted a lot of human figures in scenes with foliage before, but this body of work is the first time I step further back and show that these green spaces are encased within a greater urban landscape. As a fifth-generation New Yorker, my roots in the city go back over 100 years and I think the city was something I was taking for granted and avoiding in my work. Preferring instead to represent the green spaces I could find in the city’s parks and gardens. Playing with light dancing on the surface of leaves isn't something new in my work but painting the light filtering through the trees that canopied the blocks that I played on as a child, has made the light in my work more of a signifier for memory and nostalgia. I feel that through the color in these paintings, I'm able to express my feelings of joy and wonder around these spaces. Rather than seeing a row of brownstones that are brown, I paint them pink and blue to show the wonder I felt as a child weaving grass plants into baskets and playing with snails on my stoop.
TUSSLE: The delicate interplay between precise marks and subtle shadows creates an almost photographic quality while remaining distinctly handmade in your drawings revealing a sophisticated approach to capturing light, particularly in how you build atmospheric effects through layered marks and tonal gradations. Could you discuss your drawing technique and how you developed this particular way of depicting dappled light?
TW: The drawings are graphite on drafting film. I start by drawing a portrait, then I make a second drawing of dappled light. The semi-transparency of the drafting film allows me to layer the two images creating a unique interaction between the subject and the light. I was first inspired to experiment with this material while looking at some of my late grandfather's blueprints. Drafting film is commonly used by architects. I loved the way the material captured the precision of my grandfathers's mark-making while still showing his hand. The smoothness of the surface is what gives the drawings that photo-like quality. I like that these drawings allow me to use another expressive language within this body of work.
