While studying art history as a Princeton undergrad, Field Kallop was tasked with an assignment that continues to shape her artistic practice today. The prompt was to consider the relationship between the micro and macro, and she thought about the atom and galaxies, two organic structures with the same design despite their vastly different scales.
This experience vaulted the young art historian-turned-painter toward an enduring line of inquiry that reaches into astronomy, physics, mathematics, philosophy, religious iconography, and much more. “I’m not really a religious person, but I think I’m spiritual in that I’m interested in that beauty and that order that is everywhere, that connects everyone,” Kallop tells Colossal from her New York studio.
“Silent Hours (Study)” (2024), watercolor on Arches paper, 23 x 23 inches
Invoking the approaches of abstract pioneers like Hilma af Klint and Agnes Martin, Kallop cultivates a deeply contemplative practice in which she produces bold, chromatic works that read like mystical color charts. Smooth gradients radiate from one edge to the other through perfectly cordoned rays, circles, and lines. Each piece begins with a precisely measured grid and continues with the artist nesting washes of pigment into the uniform geometries.
Bodies of Light, Kallop’s most recent body of work, goes on view this week at GAVLAK. Featuring some of her largest pieces to date, the exhibition comprises a collection of watercolor studies and subsequent paintings, three of which are arranged as a monumental triptych stretching 18 feet. Awash in brilliant color, the gallery becomes a sort of sacred space as it envelops visitors in a bold palette that catches and reflects the light. Some works even contain bisected circles of gold and silver leaf, evoking the sun and moon and bolstering their radiant qualities.
During the last few years, Kallop has slowly been scaling up her works, which each begin as a small rendering before turning into a larger, two-to-three-foot watercolor study. For the pieces that merit further exploration, the artist reiterates these in acrylic on canvas. But while the materials differ, her approach remains the same, and she even waters down her acrylics to achieve a more watercolor-like consistency. “I have a pretty good idea of what the painting will end up looking like based on the watercolor. And that’s when I really get into the flow,” she adds.
Kallop also works on each piece horizontally. For smaller pieces, this allows her to drape her body atop the composition. Larger works, on the other hand, like the six-foot Inside the Sun trio, rest atop sawhorses and require more agility as she stretches to reach the center of the canvas.
Kallop in her studio. Photo by Talena Mascali/Alejandro Jassan Studio
While a perfectionist at heart with a profound commitment to precision, Kallop prefers to paint without tape or a guide. “It’s too perfect,” she says. “I want that softness and that wobble, and those very slight accidents.”
As its name suggests, Bodies of Light reflects this methodical, physically demanding practice and, of course, speaks to the transcendent symbolism of illumination. Some pieces nod to a sort of earthly light, which dazzles as “it comes through windows or when it comes through trees,” the artist says, adding that several pieces consider photosynthesis and the process of transforming light into energy. Then there’s cosmic and celestial light—that which glimmers above on clear nights and connects distant realms through a dotted network in the sky.
Here again, she returns to the concept of universal order and the beauty we can find in it. “I’m interested in thinking about our role in this crazy, huge, weird, wild world and what it all means,” she says. “I think there’s so much more uniting us than we realize.”
Bodies of Light runs from December 18 to January 24 in West Palm Beach. Explore a larger archive of Kallop’s work on her website and Instagram.
“Silent Transit” (2025), acrylic on canvas, 60 x 60 inches
“Equinox” (2025), acrylic, gold leaf, and silver leaf on canvas, 60 x 60 inches
“Inside the Sun (I)” (2025), acrylic, gold leaf, and silver leaf on canvas, 72 x 72 inches
“Inside the Sun (II)” (2025), acrylic, gold leaf, and silver leaf on canvas, 72 x 72 inches
“Inside the Sun (III)” (2025), acrylic, gold leaf, and silver leaf on canvas, 72 x 72 inches
“Periodic Chamber (Study)” (2023), watercolor on Arches paper, 23 x 23 inches
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