Towards Grace are a series of granite wall works evoking the spiritual, the dance floor, the night sky, and memorial.

The granite surfaces are painted with liquid gold, bronze, copper, and brass metal coatings, which are then oxidized with a tiffany green patina. This technique of painting and mark making on stone is a method I have continued to develop over the past three years.

Notions of trace, absence, gesture, and ephemera have remained as through lines in my practice. My background is in printmaking, which fostered an interest in how the manipulation of a surface—such as scars on skin or embossing on paper—alters how it is perceived. This has informed my approach to mark-making across the many, many mediums I work in.

These paintings function as both a document and a mirror–the surface reflects while seemingly radiating light outwards.  Each piece is sealed with an archival varnish, which causes the light reflected by the metal powder to glow. Each one-of-a-kind work is signed in bronze metal coating on the back.

The term ‘grace’ functions both as a descriptor of movement in dance, and as a quality associated with the divine. Grace is not something that can be earned or taken. Akin to love, it is only given, and given freely.

Payment plans are available upon request. Email: studio@josephliatela.com to request paying in installments.

For each work purchased, a portion of the sale will go towards the Middle East Children’s Alliance and TGI Justice Project.

Frame and hanging hardware included 
Orders ship within 20 business days