Barbara Morris reviews the recent exhibition Judith Belzer: Paths of Desire at George Lawson Gallery, San Francisco.

Morris writes: "Belzer explores the edge where the natural world interfaces with the industrialized landscape, emphasizing how rhythms and patterns found in nature are echoed in the structures that man has created. An underlying subtext to Belzer’s work is that the 'unspoiled' landscape is almost a thing of the past, conveying our anxious energy as we struggle for equilibrium in a world permanently altered by our actions… With dynamic, gestural line quality of paint whipping around, and surefooted and energetic areas of deftly applied color, Belzer’s churning and writhing skeins of oil manage to nonetheless convey a formal quality bordering on austere."