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Abstract Inquiry · 2023
Fibers and Data
Available · in the studio, Phoenix
The data that runs through fibres — abstract inquiry into what information looks like at the material level.
"We live as analog bodies in a digital sea—this painting is the static, the signal, and the silence." – Ritu Raj
In Fibers and Data, Ritu Raj creates a complex abstract matrix that captures the collision of two forces shaping our age: the tactile remnants of the body and the invisible architecture of information. A key work from his The Pulse of Life Collection, this 60 x 60 inch mixed media painting fuses textured layers with geometric disruption, mapping a psychological topography of our digital entanglement.
The painting pulses with a dense, erratic surface. Threads of color—rust, ochre, electric blue—interlace like organic fibers woven into an electric grid. Behind them, faint binary patterns emerge and dissolve, hinting at structure while resisting clarity. The eye travels like a data packet, rerouted across interruptions, glitches, and feedback loops.
There is a kinship here with the work of Julie Mehretu, whose complex spatial abstractions chart geopolitical, architectural, and emotional territories. Like Mehretu, Raj blends gestural marks with conceptual underpinnings—inviting viewers to decode a world that is always shifting.
Yet Fibers and Data also carries intimacy. It’s not just about systems; it’s about the hand within them. The brushstrokes resist automation, favoring interruption over precision, imperfection over polish. This is the ghost in the machine—the self asserting its presence in a grid that seeks erasure.
Raj builds systems and paints, and both practices bring personal resonance to this piece. Having moved through the worlds of code, systems, and sensory exploration, Fibers and Data feels autobiographical—a visual manifestation of what it means to be a human thread in the digital weave.
This painting does not offer resolution. Instead, it hums with tension, complexity, and presence. It is a mirror to our modern experience: layered, encoded, fragmented—and very much alive.
Where to see it. In person at RituStudio, Phoenix, by appointment. Represented by Jarrow & Goodman, Los Angeles.
The space it needs
- Wall
- At least 8 ft wide
- Ceiling
- 9 ft or more
- Light
- Natural light preferred — the resin catches it and the color shifts through the day
- Daylight
- Near black and spectral gray keep the grid steady; only the oxblood warms in late light. Raking light from a nearby window brings up the textured signal across the surface.
Lives best in
Living room 5/5
Fibers and Data earns a 5 here because a living room is where people sit long enough to notice how the oxblood thread-forms pulse against the near-black ground differently at noon than at dusk.
Hotel lobby 4/5
The five-foot canvas commands a lobby wall without overwhelming it, and the spectral gray grid gives transient viewers something coolly legible before the restless undercurrent registers.
Details
- Size
- 5 × 5 ft (W × H)
- Medium
- Acrylic on canvas
- Finish
- Epoxy over acrylic. The resin lifts the color off the canvas and holds it forward, so the surface deepens as the light moves across the room.
- Year
- 2023
- Collection
- Abstract Inquiry
- Palette
- Near Black · Oxblood · Earth Tone · Spectral Gray
- Weight
- About 45 lb
- Ready
- In the studio; delivery 8–12 weeks
Its ArtGram
ArtGram.Sheaf
- Texture4
- Form4
- Colour range3
- Palette3.3
- Contrast3.4
- Abstraction Quotient2.5
