Barbara Rossi is an original Chicago Imagist, a group of late 1960s and 1970s artists who—interested in non-Western, popular, and everyday imagery— created raw and often distorted, cartoon-like figurative drawings. The twin shapes in this work reference bodies and are simultaneously tightly designed, recalling early 20th century movements like Art Deco or decorative stenciling used in everyday interiors. These associations have historically been sneered at in fine arts circles. Rossi, however, reclaims these forms deliberately as not just worthy but eminently capable of creative and personal expression that make up her own vibrant artistic vocabulary.

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