Sarah Blaustein, Analytic Third T-2, 2025 (detail). Ink and acrylic on canvas, 40 x 40 inches (101 x 101 cm)
Sarah Blaustein: Analytic Third
HESSE FLATOW
May 2 – June 7, 2025
HESSE FLATOW presents Analytic Third, a solo exhibition of new paintings by San Francisco Bay Area artist Sarah Blaustein. In her second presentation with the gallery, Blaustein explores the transcendent space between artwork and viewer. Drawing from the psychoanalytic concept of the “analytic third,” the intersubjective space between therapist and patient where the patient shares, explores, and activates their ideas, Blaustein’s work invites the viewer to narrow their viewing range, come closer, and engage in self-reflection. The works function as tools for the viewer to better connect to their own humanity.
Blaustein’s paintings feel alive—growing, breathing, and appearing almost wet to the eye, pulsating with energy. They shift in response to those who encounter them. Using acrylic and ink, chosen for their permanence, she creates spontaneous, gestural marks that activate space and transform perception, drawing the viewer in and out of the work. Employing a range of brushes—house painters’ brushes, boar bristle brushes, acrylic brushes, sponges, and rags—she remains acutely attuned to each moment, maintaining a continuous, responsive dialogue with the evolving piece.
For Blaustein, water acts as a primary medium, symbolizing the life-giving force of the paintings. Their wet quality suggests movement, as if the markings could dissolve or float away at any moment. This emphasis on water imbues the work with an intrinsic wetness and juiciness, evoking powerful associations with the body. Guided by this element, the viewer is invited to reflect on the physicality and life force inherent in the paintings.
Blaustein’s color palette is inspired by her everyday life, the moments she witnesses, and the experiences she recalls, blending these memories into the intuitive process of her work. By juxtaposing electric, bold colors with soft pastels, Blaustein charges her work with both energy and weight, capturing the beauty of fleeting moments and the melancholy of their impermanence. “I react to the colors I’ve already applied to the canvas, working in a collaborative back and forth with the work,” the artist shared. “I am interested in the idea of the economy of means. The lightest touch can make the biggest impact in
making the work feel most alive.”
Blaustein’s practice is driven by a deep desire to capture the intangible emotions that surge within her, particularly as a woman navigating the world. In Analytic Third T-2 (2025), she creates vibrant, swirling patterns with intricate brushstrokes that pulse with energy and motion. Fluid shapes interweave across the canvas, with rich hues of green, pink, red, and purple, accented by bursts of yellow and blue. The work channels visceral, often unseen feelings, tapping into life-force energies that are both personal and universal.
As Blaustein explains, “The moments that make me feel the most alive can feel overwhelming because they are gone in an instant. In these works, I wanted to capture this dichotomy of fleeting/fragile time with the strong feeling it creates. I wanted the marks to feel light to touch and weightless, almost as if they could be blown away, while simultaneously creating a powerful tension with the build up of marks, capturing the feeling of compression and expansion of the moment.”
About the Artist
Sarah Blaustein (b. 1982, San Francisco East Bay, CA) has had recent solo exhibitions at Night Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA; Institute of Contemporary Art San José, San José, CA; private showing at PACE Gallery, Palo Alto, CA; and HESSE FLATOW, New York, NY. Her work has been included in group shows at Night Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; Paul Thiebaud Gallery, San Francisco, CA; and HESSE FLATOW East Gallery, Amagansett, NY. Blaustein lives and works in the San Francisco Bay Area.
About HESSE FLATOW
HESSE FLATOW is a gallery and curatorial platform founded by artist Karen Hesse Flatow in 2019. It had its start as “Crush Curatorial”, where many artists we work with today had their debut solo show. Hesse Flatow has an MBA and an MFA from Columbia University and attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. The program focuses on emerging and mid-career artists with diverse voices, presenting debut solo shows and focused presentations. We are located in an accessible ground floor space in Tribeca, New York City.
For press requests, please contact Alejandro Jassan Studio at [email protected]; for more information about the artist, please contact [email protected]
77 Franklin Street, New York, NY 10013
646-892-3032 | [email protected] | @hesse_flatow
HESSE FLATOW
May 2 – June 7, 2025
HESSE FLATOW presents Analytic Third, a solo exhibition of new paintings by San Francisco Bay Area artist Sarah Blaustein. In her second presentation with the gallery, Blaustein explores the transcendent space between artwork and viewer. Drawing from the psychoanalytic concept of the “analytic third,” the intersubjective space between therapist and patient where the patient shares, explores, and activates their ideas, Blaustein’s work invites the viewer to narrow their viewing range, come closer, and engage in self-reflection. The works function as tools for the viewer to better connect to their own humanity.
Blaustein’s paintings feel alive—growing, breathing, and appearing almost wet to the eye, pulsating with energy. They shift in response to those who encounter them. Using acrylic and ink, chosen for their permanence, she creates spontaneous, gestural marks that activate space and transform perception, drawing the viewer in and out of the work. Employing a range of brushes—house painters’ brushes, boar bristle brushes, acrylic brushes, sponges, and rags—she remains acutely attuned to each moment, maintaining a continuous, responsive dialogue with the evolving piece.
For Blaustein, water acts as a primary medium, symbolizing the life-giving force of the paintings. Their wet quality suggests movement, as if the markings could dissolve or float away at any moment. This emphasis on water imbues the work with an intrinsic wetness and juiciness, evoking powerful associations with the body. Guided by this element, the viewer is invited to reflect on the physicality and life force inherent in the paintings.
Blaustein’s color palette is inspired by her everyday life, the moments she witnesses, and the experiences she recalls, blending these memories into the intuitive process of her work. By juxtaposing electric, bold colors with soft pastels, Blaustein charges her work with both energy and weight, capturing the beauty of fleeting moments and the melancholy of their impermanence. “I react to the colors I’ve already applied to the canvas, working in a collaborative back and forth with the work,” the artist shared. “I am interested in the idea of the economy of means. The lightest touch can make the biggest impact in
making the work feel most alive.”
Blaustein’s practice is driven by a deep desire to capture the intangible emotions that surge within her, particularly as a woman navigating the world. In Analytic Third T-2 (2025), she creates vibrant, swirling patterns with intricate brushstrokes that pulse with energy and motion. Fluid shapes interweave across the canvas, with rich hues of green, pink, red, and purple, accented by bursts of yellow and blue. The work channels visceral, often unseen feelings, tapping into life-force energies that are both personal and universal.
As Blaustein explains, “The moments that make me feel the most alive can feel overwhelming because they are gone in an instant. In these works, I wanted to capture this dichotomy of fleeting/fragile time with the strong feeling it creates. I wanted the marks to feel light to touch and weightless, almost as if they could be blown away, while simultaneously creating a powerful tension with the build up of marks, capturing the feeling of compression and expansion of the moment.”
About the Artist
Sarah Blaustein (b. 1982, San Francisco East Bay, CA) has had recent solo exhibitions at Night Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA; Institute of Contemporary Art San José, San José, CA; private showing at PACE Gallery, Palo Alto, CA; and HESSE FLATOW, New York, NY. Her work has been included in group shows at Night Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; Paul Thiebaud Gallery, San Francisco, CA; and HESSE FLATOW East Gallery, Amagansett, NY. Blaustein lives and works in the San Francisco Bay Area.
About HESSE FLATOW
HESSE FLATOW is a gallery and curatorial platform founded by artist Karen Hesse Flatow in 2019. It had its start as “Crush Curatorial”, where many artists we work with today had their debut solo show. Hesse Flatow has an MBA and an MFA from Columbia University and attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. The program focuses on emerging and mid-career artists with diverse voices, presenting debut solo shows and focused presentations. We are located in an accessible ground floor space in Tribeca, New York City.
For press requests, please contact Alejandro Jassan Studio at [email protected]; for more information about the artist, please contact [email protected]
77 Franklin Street, New York, NY 10013
646-892-3032 | [email protected] | @hesse_flatow