A Certain Silence is a stunning and beautiful iteration of Toronto-based artist Jim Verburg’s idiosyncratic meditation on reflection, absorption, opacity, and translucence. Although the pieces are deeply rooted in minimalist aesthetics, Verburg’s process of creating them is in no way simple. He combines natural materials like cotton paper and industrial materials like clouded Mylar or plexiglass to create several layers of either very subtle or highly contrasting structures which—as he calls it—result in a certain hum. A notion very much recognisable as soon as the spectator takes the time to dive into Verburg’s pieces with an open mind.

After a while one discovers all the layers Verburg created by painting directly onto several clouded sheets of Mylar, connecting them with a piece of transparent plexiglass. By doing so he perfectly stages and intensifies the alchemy created by the manual and individual irregularities of his painting. The pieces come to life and offer a multitude of perspectives in a pure and refreshingly minimalist context.

To me, A Certain Silence is an all-encompassing example of the complexity hidden in minimalist art. Something that can be explored again and again.