Original painting

Acrylic on panel

48” x 60”

Waltz Scene features a ghostly ballroom scene in an uncertain, highly obscured setting. Working with a homemade gesso mixture, Seidl embraces the inconsistencies of the material, and imprints natural materials into the gesso while it is still setting. Working with multiple layers of acrylic washes, Seidl then power sands back into the painting, excavating lower layers and pushing top layers back. Figures are trapped amidst the layers as the ground ascends and competes with them visually. The figures are highly abstracted, and rendered with the most minimal, highly gestural brushwork required to convey a sense of form. At the far right of the composition a couple embraces. As they hold one another, they appear to be dissolving into the highly textured ground. The other couples dance on, partially rendered, refusing to relinquish themselves to the darkness.