Abstract Artist Embraces Possibility And asks, “What if?”
Photo & Review by Judy Lee, New Haven Independent (June 2026)
Judy Atlas has a creative process that consists of asking herself an important question: “What if?”
What if the lines were softer? Fewer lines and more shapes? What if there were more colors in that pattern?
That creative process, which the abstract painter described at a City Gallery show of hers in 2022, took center stage at her current City Gallery show, titled “WHAT IF?”, on display through June 28.
When Judy Atlas taught at the Creative Arts Workshop, she walked students through her practice of generating “what ifs” and letting themselves act on these curiosities. What some might have first considered to be an annoying prodding would soon prove to be bountiful, if they let the question in.
I saw evidence of this myself at Atlas’s aptly-titled “WHAT IF?” While the title speaks to her process, many of the pieces are also inspired by “modern architecture and the work of architect Frank Gehry, who passed away this December.”