Illusion is part of the site-specific line sculptures.

For art aficionados in South Florida, the work of Karen Rifas should be familiar, and for good reason. For several decades she has created distinct sculptures and site-specific installations that deal with spatial aesthetics, and are sometimes accompanied by maquettes, live performances and drawings. Her works have been shown all over the Americas and here are in the collections of PAMM and MOCA.

Just this month, Rifas was featured again at two galleries, one at the alternative Art@Work gallery, part of the art complex near FIU that includes the Farside Gallery. A solo called “Crosswords,” it was based on the black-and-white, grid-like, text-based squares of a New York Times crossword puzzle (it closed on May 22).

Sculptural corner in yellow and black.

And just opened at the Design District’s Arevalo Gallery is a series of installations formed specifically to play off the walls, corners and windows of the handsome second-floor space, along with drawings and maquettes.

Your eyes are always drawn back and forth to various installations when Rifas has taken over a room, or rooms, as each one has its own illusionary quality. In this case, however, some beautiful tinted windows that face the street are the first “canvases” that will attract the eye. Rifas has run a singular yellow string across the middle of these windows, while one red string and one black string frames each large window. They are simple and visually stunning line sculptures. But your eyes will quickly move to the back wall, where an installation of multiple strings in several colors are hung from ceiling to floor, with that one horizontal yellow line continuing from the windows. The effect here creates an intense optical illusion, as the seeming angles and slants of these lines change depending on your position while viewing.

Working with the windows for a line-based sculpture.

In the corner of the next room, a woven all-black sculpture takes over the corner, with shadows only really visible reflected on the walls of the top half of the piece, giving it even more dimensions. In yet another corner piece, Rifas has painted the one area of the wall yellow, using vertical black strings again to create the form. Above it, the horizontal slots of the aircon vent seems to complement the entire visual.

This intervention on the architectural layout of the gallery is Rifas in top form, in a very minimal way leaving no nook or cranny untouched.

Unfortunately, the gallery itself will not remain untouched, as it is in yet another building slated for redevelopment in the Design District; this is likely the last show in this space, although Arevalo will be scouting new spaces, permanent or pop-up.

“Karen Rifas: Site-Specific Installations, Recent Drawings and Maquettes” runs through June at Arevalo Gallery, 151 N.E. 40th St., Miami; www.arevalogallery.com.