Judy Pfaff
Judy Pfaff
Judy Pfaff’s sculptures, drawings and prints have been exhibited in museums and galleries around the world. She has been described as a “collagist in space.” Pfaff was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2004.
Judy Pfaff was born in London in 1946 and later settled in America at the age of thirteen. She received her B.F.A. from Washington University and her M.F.A. from Yale University. Her innovative work has brought her wide acclaim from galleries and museums throughout the United States, Europe, and the Far East. Her work can be found in such prestigious collections as the Detroit Institute of Art; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
In a series of long horizontal prints, Judy first executed highly detailed plates composed of circles and concentric circles, inscribed lines, and outlines of hands in muted sepia and gray/green tones. Like her large- scale installations these prints have a three-dimensional presence and flowing quality with multiple circles and lines echoing throughout each image. To bring the overall compositions together each print is finished with hand applied encaustic paint and fabric dyes. In several of the prints Judy uses imagery from Indian Sanskrit ledger books and stenciling from computer laser shapes of plants from scientific journals.