The term alluvial refers to soil deposited by receding floodwaters, a process Kurtz echoed in her Alluvial series by embedding sand, pebbles, mica, and other minerals into her compositions. In Untitled, a silvery vertical band meets a darker, green-black field, evoking the shifting boundary between land and water. The surface varies from rough and granular to smooth, suggesting the slow work of erosion and deposition. Flecks of bronze powder catch the light, while a wash of green hints at a patina of age. These luminous accents recall sunlight glinting on river currents and waves.
Kurtz studied and later taught at the Philadelphia College of Art (later the University of the Arts). She exhibited widely, including at Philadelphia’s Locks Gallery, and her work was the subject of a 2012 retrospective at Woodmere. Beginning in the late 1980s, she turned to earth and minerals as her primary materials, finding beauty in beach sand, farm soil, and even elements gathered from distant locations and sent to her studio.
