Claire Sherman’s exhibition, “West Ridge,” is at DC Moore Gallery in New York through November 5. Sherman’s latest paintings focus on what she calls “unraveling environments,” depicting archetypes of forests and islands in varying states of agitation. She paints quickly, refusing to spend more than a day in the studio working on a single piece. “The physical quality of paint is something I find very seductive,” she told Hyperallergic in 2014. “Paint has the ability to describe, fall apart, be chaotic, rigid, uncontrollable, fluid, and surprising all at once.”

Claire Sherman, Sea Cave, 2016, oil on canvas, 78″ x 96″.

Island, 2016, oil on canvas, 102″ x 84″.

Trees, 2016, oil on canvas, 84″ x 72″.

Night and Branches, 2015, oil on canvas, 60″ x 54″.

Tree, 2016, oil on canvas, 84″ x 66″.