At the heart of Carmen Herrera’s work is a striking formal simplicity and attention to color. Devoid of any referential aspects, her paintings on paper combine line, form and space to convey an intense physicality. Herrera begins every work on paper by making sketches; the first stage at which she seeks to visually articulate that which has become her signature, authoritative means of expression and her quintessential, distinctive visual language. These sketches may remain in her studio to be developed in the future. Others are taken up more urgently, undergoing further refinement and deliberation to become more formal paintings on paper. It is in this moment when additional shifts may occur. The overall composition may be modified, color relationships may become nuanced and consequently more fixed in her mind, just as the scale of a larger painting yet to be made may be further determined and considered.The works are organised based on the harmony and tension of opposing chromatic planes, combining symmetry and asymmetry as a means to give structure to the surface. Sometimes, Herrera will take the painting on paper composition to her third stage of painting or sculpture. However, these works on paper should be considered as works in their own right, a resolution at that moment in time of Herrera’s intellectual process. Reducing her paintings to the play between two or three colors, Herrera creates an experience of sophisticated intensity: a precision and optical rhythm achieved through the most economic of means.The colors engage in a game of balance.The forms exist in tectonic tension, simultaneously creating new geometric shapes while establishing an overall harmony. Herrera explores the relationship between these two matte hues, removing her hand to emphasize the direct interaction of color and form.

-Adapted from Nigel Prince, ‘Of Process’, Carmen Herrera: Painting in Process, Lisson Gallery, 2022

At the heart of Carmen Herrera’s work is a striking formal simplicity and attention to color. Devoid of any referential aspects, her paintings on paper combine line, form and space to convey an intense physicality. Herrera begins every work on paper by making sketches; the first stage at which she seeks to visually articulate that which has become her signature, authoritative means of expression and her quintessential, distinctive visual language. These sketches may remain in her studio to be developed in the future. Others are taken up more urgently, undergoing further refinement and deliberation to become more formal paintings on paper. It is in this moment when additional shifts may occur. The overall composition may be modified, color relationships may become nuanced and consequently more fixed in her mind, just as the scale of a larger painting yet to be made may be further determined and considered.The works are organised based on the harmony and tension of opposing chromatic planes, combining symmetry and asymmetry as a means to give structure to the surface. Sometimes, Herrera will take the painting on paper composition to her third stage of painting or sculpture. However, these works on paper should be considered as works in their own right, a resolution at that moment in time of Herrera’s intellectual process. Reducing her paintings to the play between two or three colors, Herrera creates an experience of sophisticated intensity: a precision and optical rhythm achieved through the most economic of means.The colors engage in a game of balance.The forms exist in tectonic tension, simultaneously creating new geometric shapes while establishing an overall harmony. Herrera explores the relationship between these two matte hues, removing her hand to emphasize the direct interaction of color and form.

-Adapted from Nigel Prince, ‘Of Process’, Carmen Herrera: Painting in Process, Lisson Gallery, 2022

At the heart of Carmen Herrera’s work is a striking formal simplicity and attention to color. Devoid of any referential aspects, her paintings on paper combine line, form and space to convey an intense physicality. Herrera begins every work on paper by making sketches; the first stage at which she seeks to visually articulate that which has become her signature, authoritative means of expression and her quintessential, distinctive visual language. These sketches may remain in her studio to be developed in the future. Others are taken up more urgently, undergoing further refinement and deliberation to become more formal paintings on paper. It is in this moment when additional shifts may occur. The overall composition may be modified, color relationships may become nuanced and consequently more fixed in her mind, just as the scale of a larger painting yet to be made may be further determined and considered.The works are organised based on the harmony and tension of opposing chromatic planes, combining symmetry and asymmetry as a means to give structure to the surface. Sometimes, Herrera will take the painting on paper composition to her third stage of painting or sculpture. However, these works on paper should be considered as works in their own right, a resolution at that moment in time of Herrera’s intellectual process. Reducing her paintings to the play between two or three colors, Herrera creates an experience of sophisticated intensity: a precision and optical rhythm achieved through the most economic of means.The colors engage in a game of balance.The forms exist in tectonic tension, simultaneously creating new geometric shapes while establishing an overall harmony. Herrera explores the relationship between these two matte hues, removing her hand to emphasize the direct interaction of color and form.

-Adapted from Nigel Prince, ‘Of Process’, Carmen Herrera: Painting in Process, Lisson Gallery, 2022