The series White Grids consists of a typology that is sewn and pleated and stretched over canvas. Malleable fabrics have been part of Schmidt’s practice for a long time going back to her childhood in Greece, where fabrics were often recycled. Schmidt sees the painted fabrics functioning as a skin or a kind of garment. The pieces are prepared and painted in monochromatic shades of whites on raw cotton duck canvas, reminiscing the subtleties of whites of Agnes Martin. The sewn line is a soft form of geometry, wavering and pulling. This is a continuous variation of the concept of a grid which plays with the absolute freedom and constraint of a given parameter. Whatever happens inside the grid is considered freedom. The grid itself stays the same and is considered the restraint. All that is used for this art process are humble materials, such as paint, fabric and string. A monograph entitled Grids and Threads was published by Jovis in 2018 with a text by Jacoba Urist and an interview with Parrish Art Museum director Terrie Sultan. Grids and Threads was exhibited at the Parrish Art Museum and the Watermill Center in Watermill, New York.
