From Figurative to Abstract
Philippe Halaburda · 1995–2026
This page traces thirty years of painting practice, from early figurative work made in
Aix-en-Provence, France, to fully abstract and psychogeographical work made in New York
and Newburgh, NY, today.
The transition was not sudden. It happened gradually, through fragmentation, through
the dissolution of the figure, through the emergence of structure, grid, and spatial logic
as the primary language of the work.
Each image represents a year. Each year, a different stage in the same ongoing investigation.
Newburgh, NY · 2020–2026
Abstract & psychogeographical practice
Since relocating to the Hudson Valley, the work has fully embraced abstraction informed by psychogeography, using acrylic, tape, yarn, and found objects to map collective emotional states and spatial memory.
Each painting functions as a visual system rather than a depiction.
New York, NY · 2016–2019
Transition & early abstraction in the USA
The move to New York accelerated the shift away from figuration.
City rhythms, displacement, and the emotional texture of urban life became the primary subjects, no longer rendered as figures but as structures, grids, and layered marks.
Aix-en-Provence, France · 2003–2015
Figurative foundations & early abstraction
The earliest works are rooted in observation, the human figure, gesture, and the physical world rendered through paint.
Over time, figurative elements begin to fragment: forms dissolve, space asserts itself, and the structural logic that defines the later work emerges beneath the surface of the image.
Bern & Zurich, Switzerland · 1997–2000
European modernism & graphic precision
A period in Switzerland, between Bern and Zurich, further shaped the visual sensibility of the early practice.
Exposure to European modernism, Swiss graphic design, and the precision of the Constructivist tradition introduced a new tension into the figurative work: the pull between representation
and structure, between the painted body and the underlying geometry that would eventually
take over entirely.
The figure is still present here. But the grid is already waiting beneath it.
Paris, France · 1995–1997
First paintings — figurative origins
The practice begins in Paris, where Halaburda trained at EDTA SORNAS, establishing foundational skills in drawing, composition, and observation.
Early works from this period are rooted in the figure: studies of form, gesture, and the human body's physical presence in space.
These are the first paintings. Before the system. Before the grid. Just paint and the beginning of a question.
