Leah Rosenberg’s paired paintings evidence a hope in systems, but frustrate the typical progression or resolution that systematic processes imply. Horoscopes are based on maps of the cosmos that are interpreted by astrologers; these readings offer ways to understand one’s personal characteristics, or to imagine one’s future. The horoscope texts refer to calendrical time, which is stable in its structure but varies according to planetary movement. As a way to cope with uncertainty, they mirror Rosenberg’s daily practice of working in the basement studio, painting stripes; the simple gouache lines on paper provide a reliable structure wherein experimentation with colors and their sequence might occur.

 The stripes are also a kind of calendar: a registration of time and effort. They are an index of days and experiences, each color inspired by friends’ clothes and shared meals, or bits of conversations overheard. The colors repeat from painting to painting, sometimes in similar order but most often not, much like one’s daily life. Geometric perfection is clearly never the goal. Rather, the paintings paradoxically embody the potential for endless variety within a set form, which is perhaps another way to understand the astrological clippings, as well. Rosenberg’s work shows an optimistic belief in open-ended yet precise language, and in shifting yet durable forms.

-Courtney Dailey, 2010