Captivating paintings on plaster by artist Ragellah Rourke

I first came across Ragellah Rourke's art on Carrie Haddad Gallery's website earlier this Fall.  The paintings shown below are just a few of her nearly two dozen works at the New York gallery.

Traces I, 2007.

Rourke works in layers.  She first coats wood with plaster.  She then marks, incises, sands, and paints on the plastered surface.  Each painting is a work in progress over an extended period of time.

The Hour Glass, 2008. 

Box Full of Stars, 2008.

Signal Tomorrow, 2009.

Rourke's paintings are very mysterious to me.  They actually remind me a lot of Joan Miró's abstract paintings from 70 years ago.  I love how both artists seem to have a child-like element to their art. 

Joan Miró, Nocturne, tempera, gouache, egg, oil, and pastel on paper, 1940.