Shortly after the exhibition entitled Painting: 40 Years,” a retrospective at the Sideshow Gallery in 2007, Willis returned to a rectilinear format.
Combining the early "Slat" paintings, with exploration of form and field in his “Wedge” series, he created a body of work he entitled  “Lattices” where lines appear to weave forward and back.
Michael Feldman documented the transition to this new work in a film, in 2008-09, Portrait of an American Painter   In 2009, Willis had a one-person show at the Elizabeth Harris Gallery, with catalog entitled The Lattice Paintings essay, by James Panero of The New Criterion.
In his essay, Panero writes, “Ever since his wedge paintings in 1970s, Thornton has played with the density of volumes, the interaction of colors to come forward and recede, and the character of the line.”

Two years later, in 2011, Willis took on form over field where form or volume appear to dominate the line.
The resulting images harken to the dense mass of city buildings and maps.
In an essay for this new series, Lance Esplund writes:  “Those who have followed Willis’s work over the years may see his current series of paintings as a departure from “Slats” of the 1960s, the “Wedges,” or “Fins,” of the 1970s and early ’80s, the triangular facets of recent years, and the “Lattice” paintings from his last show, in 2009, at Elizabeth Harris.
But all of these pictures have in common the allover surface plane held in tension, between figure and ground, as an interwoven field.
They also share the subject of the urban landscape” 
Willis continued to show with Elizabeth Harris, and in April 2013, had a one-person show of new “Step” paintings.
 The artist included in the show, consisting predominantly of his paintings, several three dimensional painted wall pieces or assemblages.
 The wall sculptures, starting with a painted canvas base, are built up with layers of found objects and painted wood.
Also in April and May 2013, two large paintings by Willis were exhibited at Gagosian Gallery, 980 Madison, New York, in the exhibition entitled, “Works of the Jenney Archive.”
Shortly after the exhibition entitled Painting: 40 Years,” a retrospective at the Sideshow Gallery in 2007, Willis returned to a rectilinear format. Combining the early "Slat" paintings, with exploration of form and field in his “Wedge” series, he created a body of work he entitled  “Lattices” where lines appear to weave forward and back. Michael Feldman documented the transition to this new work in a film, in 2008-09, Portrait of an American Painter   In 2009, Willis had a one-person show at the Elizabeth Harris Gallery, with catalog entitled The Lattice Paintings essay, by James Panero of The New Criterion. In his essay, Panero writes, “Ever since his wedge paintings in 1970s, Thornton has played with the density of volumes, the interaction of colors to come forward and recede, and the character of the line.” 
Two years later, in 2011, Willis took on form over field where form or volume appear to dominate the line. The resulting images harken to the dense mass of city buildings and maps. In an essay for this new series, Lance Esplund writes:  “Those who have followed Willis’s work over the years may see his current series of paintings as a departure from “Slats” of the 1960s, the “Wedges,” or “Fins,” of the 1970s and early ’80s, the triangular facets of recent years, and the “Lattice” paintings from his last show, in 2009, at Elizabeth Harris. But all of these pictures have in common the allover surface plane held in tension, between figure and ground, as an interwoven field. They also share the subject of the urban landscape” 
Willis continued to show with Elizabeth Harris, and in April 2013, had a one-person show of new “Step” paintings.  The artist included in the show, consisting predominantly of his paintings, several three dimensional painted wall pieces or assemblages.  The wall sculptures, starting with a painted canvas base, are built up with layers of found objects and painted wood. Also in April and May 2013, two large paintings by Willis were exhibited at Gagosian Gallery, 980 Madison, New York, in the exhibition entitled, “Works of the Jenney Archive.”
Thornton Willis