Holding Space / December 2022 Vorderzimmer Gallery
This new collection of paintings is inspired by outer space and the ways we try to see it more closely, by imagining it, and imaging it.
These paintings are of planets, stars and moons, but are small enough to be held in your hands. I began them in 2022, around the time of the summer solstice, intending to show them in December, around the time of the winter solstice.
Humans have always tracked changes in the sky, the paths of the sun and the moon, and considered what these changes meant to them. The summer is a time of light and renewal. The winter is a time of darkness, but also a time to remember that the light will come again when days begin to get longer.
For many ancient cultures the solstices were the two times of year when the sun “stood still,” offering a glimpse into timelessness. The sun was seen to die during the winter solstice, and fires were lit to keep the sun alive. These paintings are like those fires, brought from summer to winter to keep alive the promise of the sun’s return. They are little bits of light, brought forward from the summer and thrown into the dark winter.
The works are also inspired by what we cannot see of the planets, moon, sun, and stars, and the ways in which we imagine what it could look like. I was thinking of how NASA uses false color in outer space image composites to help render what we can’t see with our unaided eyes. I used rich, bright, warm colors I found in fiery sunsets.
In some cultures, it was a tradition at the winter solstice to hang objects on trees which symbolized celestial bodies. This tradition evolved into gift-giving. In the same way, these works are small enough to be given as gifts.
