Judith Greenwald
Taming Chaos
Explores the Possibility of Balance in an Unpredictable World
October 6 – October 31, 2026
An opening reception: Thursday, October 8, 2026 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m
In Taming Chaos, Judith Greenwald presents a body of work that examines the tension between disorder and structure, unpredictability and intention. Responding to a world that can feel increasingly chaotic and overwhelming, the series considers how moments of balance and clarity can emerge even when the forces surrounding us cannot be fully controlled.
Each work begins with the deliberate creation of disorder on the panel—through spontaneous marks, unruly colors, paint, and forms that resist containment. Over time, this approach led the artist to incorporate alcohol inks, whose luminous fluidity and unpredictable movement offered another way to generate and engage with chaos. Sometimes the inks initiate the composition; at other times, they enter later, spreading, merging, and shifting among existing marks and layers. Rather than beginning with a predetermined composition, Greenwald responds to what unfolds, creating a visual conversation between accident and intention, impulse and restraint, chaos and order.
As each piece develops, the artist introduces lines, shapes, and patterns that direct the eye, anchor the composition, and create rhythm. The original chaos remains visible beneath the surface, while each additional intervention becomes an expression of agency. Although what has already occurred cannot be undone or entirely controlled, it can be shaped, answered, and brought into a state of provisional balance.
The works do not attempt to erase or suppress disorder. Instead, they preserve its vitality while transforming it into something intentional and resonant. In this sense, Taming Chaos reflects the way people navigate uncertainty in their own lives: accepting what lies beyond their control while recognizing their capacity to choose, respond, and create meaning.
Each completed work offers not a perfect resolution, but a moment of balance—a reminder that even when chaos remains beneath the surface, human agency can bring structure, meaning, and beauty to what emerges.
ABOUT Judith Greenwald
Judith Greenwald is a New York–based artist and retired psychotherapist whose work explores the complexity, vulnerability, and resilience of human experience. Working with oil paint, cold wax, alcohol ink, and mixed media, she builds richly layered surfaces and then scratches, sands, and excavates them, allowing unexpected forms and relationships to emerge.
Greenwald’s background in psychotherapy informs her enduring interest in what lies beneath the visible surface—the accumulated layers of memory, emotion, and experience that shape our inner lives. Her creative process embraces uncertainty, discovery, and the interplay between intention and chance.
She has exhibited regularly at Ceres Gallery in New York City and has participated in numerous group and juried exhibitions, including Cold Wax International: A Juried Exhibition. She is also the creator of Artful Aging: ReEnchantment through Art/Play, a project exploring how creative practice can foster curiosity, flexibility, resilience, and meaning in later life.
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