Erna Partoll's abstract paintings focus on color, composition, the way colors interact, and the influence of color on the creation of space. The archetypal shapes of circle, square, wave, and arch – opening and closing, advancing and receding as their rhythms alternate – reveal life and death, joy and sorrow, heaven and earth, yin and yang. Partoll's work, over time, maintains a stylized symbology which repeats in both subtle and profound forms. The one constant is these symbols – the door, the wave, the sun, and their archetypal associations and the deep, emotional connections those associations engender.