New Day
Signed Print

Executed in the 1980s and 1990s, the Zig/Rhomboid works evolved from the previously harmonious order of stripes as Riley sought to find new ways to generate interactions between colours. Even more dynamic and complex, these shapes straddle two-dimensionality and three-dimensionality, creating a sensation of motion that the static, horizontal-line works lacked. By fashioning this innovative rhomboid form Riley claims a “whole new field of relationships opened up”.

A seismic shift occurred in Riley’s practice in 1967 as she introduced colour into her works. Now, her focus was on the effect of varying colour combinations and the potential for narrative and emotion that this brings, concerned less with constructing optical illusions. Here, the colours tell the narrative of a sunrise heralding a ‘new day’: Riley’s titles inform the viewer of the content, which is never apparent given their non-representational nature. Hence, New Day, as well as other similar works represents Riley’s ongoing experimentations with colour, shape and form, adding to a complex oeuvre that demonstrates a long-standing fascination for the physical processes of perception.