Artist Interview: Anoka Faruqee’s Optical Paintings Will Twist And Bend Your Perception

When walking towards a painting by Anoka Faruqee your eyes refuse to settle.  Turquoise, formed into an elongated triangular band, is pinched between two golden curves.  The turquoise is misbehaving.  Instead of sitting still it appears to flex and blend into the yellow.  As you get closer the painting changes, and at arm's length another dramatic shift occurs, the previous turquoise and gold bands of color atomizes into narrow, serpentine, overlapping lines with several more colors, no longer just turquoise and gold.  Looking across the room your eyes settle on another painting.  This square shaped canvas is a warm gray that seems to dance.  Upon closer inspection the pleasantly worked surface transforms into a swirling design of forest green and cherry red lines.  Faruqee calls this series of paintings the Moiré series, after the illusion with the same name.  The history of Modern art is often told as a race towards extremes, but will that be true of 21st century art?