Renate B. Hofer's painting possesses the power to bring the passing viewer to a standstill with its arresting use of color and visceral qualities. Tracing the very soul of the artist spilling onto the canvas, these poignant abstractions are filled with a breathtaking intensity and spontaneity. Hofer's use of paint seems to stand at the intersection of Mark Rothko and Hans Hoffman as influences. She uses bold and rich panels of color which are then broken by a jarring interception, thus creating a split in the composition akin to a fault line or an open wound. Indeed, as the emerging color spills out it bleeds and veins in unusual and organic ways, alluding at once to rivers, lesions, and flashes. While none of the paintings bear suggestive titles, the artist is certain that every viewer will conceive and derive an individual conceptual meaning from each work.