This is repetitive/But nothing has changed

This is repetitive/But nothing has changed was a solo exhibition at SOHO20 Gallery in the Chelsea arts district of New York City.

Stroebe received a Puffin Foundation grant to produce a handmade, limited edition artist book in conjunction with the exhibition. The artist book contained photography by Stroebe of the landscape of Northern California, collected as inspiration for the work in the show.

The exhibition included a collection of recent sculptures and drawings created after her return from New York to her childhood home in Northern California in 2012. A large installation of woven satin ribbons was also created on-site.

Materials ranged from objects collected in nature to household items and personal keepsakes, in an attempt to unite the disparate environments of a concrete city and lush woodland landscape. Her impulse to create both harmony and chaos was combined with a struggle of feelings over the two places she calls home.

Stroebe personalizes each composition by using her own hand to create sets of lines, clusters and patterns. While sometimes employing the use of geometric shapes or straight edges, each rendering is wrought with the flawed human touch.

Washes of watercolor and gouache paint, applied to delicate papers, create
skin-like ripples and folds. The presence of such diurnal movement, and a color palette dictated by the redwood forest and seascapes near her home in California suggest a play on domestic practices. Isolation has played a large influence to this series, and the patterns presented reveal vulnerable, albeit meticulous movements found only in the concentration one has when left alone.

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