Originally comprising two adjoining canvases—one large, and a thin counterpart that functions like the margin of a page—Sub Rosa features enigmatic streaks of color that recall a set of intertwined limbs. Crudely rendered lines appear to etch out the contours of arms and fingers, while a pool of midnight blue pigment loosely forms the partial profile of a face. The Latin title ("done in secret") hints at Faux's intention of depicting a covert space in which bodies break apart and reconstruct themselves. In the artist's own words, "My work is often talked about as operating in the zone between abstraction and figuration, but I don't find those two to be opposite. To be human is, in many ways, to be abstract; we are never fully legible, even to ourselves. So, my paintings operate in shadowy zones—private moments, hidden feelings, changing your mind. There is pleasure in letting go of concrete forms, and allowing bodies to shake off the strictures of language."
Sarah Faux
Sub Rosa, 2026
18 x 19 ½ inches
Archival pigment print
Limited edition of 15 with 5 AP + 2 PP
Signed and numbered by the artist
$550
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