Sirje Runge

Light I

1979

The oil painting Light I is divided into four rectangles, one of which is completely black, while the others glow with a mysterious light emanating from the points where the rectangles touch. The Light series represents an interesting creative period in Sirje Runge’s work, as it marks one of the first instances where the artist abandoned geometric abstractionism in favour of a minimalist tradition. Here, we no longer see the familiar triangles, circles and squares of her well-known series Geometry and Space. Therefore, in the Light series, alongside space and form-related issues, the aspects of time, light and colour have also come to the forefront. Runge’s work from the 1980s is often described as a period of exploration into colour problems. During the 1980s, her paintings became progressively lighter and more delicate, and the Light series continues into the 1990s with lighter tones replacing the black background.