In her recent paintings, Grace Weaver continues her distinctive imagery of emblematic figures, portraiture, and urban scenes and scenarios. Expanding her vocabulary, the new works are painted with increasing directness and energy.

Pursuing broad gestures and an open handling of paint, Weaver turns to over-sized masonry brushes and thick oil paint. In a similar manner to how she draws with charcoal—marking, rubbing out, and layering in search of a final arrangement—Weaver exposes previously buried brushstrokes and the reworking of compositions.

Painted in a more subdued palette than Weaver's earlier works, in "Get-together (II)" (2021), the emphasis shifts to shape. The hatted figure rises to monumental proportions. On the same plane and in the same materiality, the personal attributes of the subject–her sideways glance and wrapped hands–come to the fore with the same force as her black accessories. In the resulting composition, the figure, objects, and abstract shapes appear locked together as if in rhyme.