In Conversation

Barak Wrobel: Seeing From A Different Angle

Geometric expressions of intense gravity

The Editors · August 30, 2026

Angles seem to be the hardest thing to draw emotion from, and yet, Barak Wrobel has made a dance of it. We caught up with him in his studio for a few questions.

EditorsGeometry is the most impersonal language there is, and you’re using it to say something. What does a straight line let you say that a gesture won’t?

BarakA straight line is a gesture in itself. I find geometry to be the most personal language there is. Once all is reduced, deeper intrinsic meaning emerges.

EditorsWhen a shape is right, how do you know? Is that a decision or a recognition?

BarakAt some point there is recognition that the decisions make sense.

EditorsSharp edges refuse the hand. What are you keeping out of the work by keeping yourself out of it?

BarakIf I may quote Rothko: “I would like to say to those who think of my pictures as serene… that I have imprisoned the most utter violence in every inch of their surface.”

EditorsWhen you number a work, are you counting or naming? Does a number mean something to you that it doesn’t mean to anyone else?

BarakEach work is a version of a view point. Titles influence the viewers relationship with the perspective. I’d rather not do that. I do denote certain eras as I see them; the number just tells you where you are.

EditorsWhat do you know is in the paintings that nobody has ever mentioned back to you?

BarakExperiences only I have had. A magic trick shouldn’t come with a receipt.

EditorsWhat’s the last thing you do before you decide a piece is finished, and how did you learn to trust it?

BarakIt’s a matter of seeing it through to completion. The doing is a byproduct of seeing.

EditorsIs there a painting you’d take back if you could?

BarakThere are ideas that fail the vision; a rushed palette, misguided steps. These canvasses often lay the foundation for the best work to come; without those layers, the final piece lacks the depth that makes it exceptional.

EditorsWhat are you avoiding? Something you know you should paint and haven’t.

BarakI become more attracted to zooming in to the pattern while scaling out the canvas - like looking through a microscope. I haven’t built the room for it yet.

EditorsIf someone had to look at your work in a specific way to see it right, what would you tell them to do?

BarakSee it in person. Move around with the work. Each has a life of its own.

EditorsWhat’s the question about your work you’ve never been asked?

BarakThe question the work seeks to answer. The question I don’t know the answer to. The unanswered nature of it has an endless allure to me