The title of Fran Shalom’s new solo exhibition “Taking the Backward Step” at Kathryn Markel Gallery, Chelsea comes from a 13th century Japanese Zen master. The phrase is about the need to be in the “moment” when it comes to perception. Shalom’s abstract paintings consist of pared-down, simplified shapes. They call to mind other artists who have worked in this vein—from Jean Arp and Ellsworth Kelly to Myron Stout, Paul Feeley, and Chuck Webster. Yet Shalom’s work, which deals with shape, line, texture, and color, feels different. Stout’s paintings, for instance, are more deliberately studied and not referential. Shalom’s work is livelier and more colorful, while often suggesting things in the world. The phenomenon of seeing figurative elements within abstract shapes is known as “pareidolia.” It’s possible to read “Right as Rain” (2023) as a profile of a woman’s face, or “Sashay” (2023) might make a viewer think of the wobble of a chicken as it walks. Yet, as the show’s title suggests, the perceptual goal is to be able to see abstract forms without preconception. Other works remain resolutely abstract, even if we might need to use familiar objects to describe them, such as “Out on a Limb” (2023), in which a blue cup-like shape sits atop six legs that form a base and a thin red line appears to press down from the top. Shalom is a process-oriented painter who doesn’t preplan her work, but instead relies on trial and error. As she explains, “I generally start with a few brush marks, a basic shape or gesture and then proceed to move things around, adding, subtracting, and adding color—a lot of play is involved, a lot of wiping off paint and painting over and redoing shapes.” As a true improviser, this demands that Shalom herself remain attentive to the moment, which is what gives her work its buoyancy and spark.