“Is it not the role of resemblance to be the sovereign that makes things appear?”
-Michel Foucault, This Is Not A Pipe, pg. 46

This series of paintings explores the role of resemblance, and how we perceive, recognize, and communicate through language and image, the visual aspects of objects, specifically in terms of color. When describing an object, the viewer will ascribe a name to the object, and often, for clarity, add a color for further description. This signifier, the name of the color, brings an image to mind, and clarifies the mental image of the object portrayed, even though the object may be- and almost always is- not exclusively that color; the object may not be said color at all. An object, especially a natural object, is universally recognizable. When you add language to perception, there is a learned response added. These paintings explore the relationship between object and color through assumed perception, and the dissonance created when the assumed relationship between object and signifier is altered. Resemblance helps us recognize, no matter what the color, as long as the object on the canvas conforms to our reality.

–Howard T. Katz

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