About

San Francisco-based Nicole Phungrasamee Fein’s newest body of work marks an abrupt shift from a minimal palette of black, white and gray to an exuberant burst of color.

Consistent with prior work, Fein restricts herself to watercolor applied to paper in the format of the square or the circle, achieving a wide variety of effects within her tight, self-imposed strictures. Fine dots of pigment, evenly distributed, mask any trace of the artist’s hand, yet these paintings are made under conditions of extreme concentration and control.

Veils of translucent color are applied in layers. Sometimes …