Wet Your Palette: A Group Show of Water’s Numerous States
Water, the odorless, tasteless liquid that sustains and nurtures life, can be both beautiful and terrifying, as well as the source of much inspiration. At Heather Gaudio Fine Art, a new group show, “Waterways III” displays a variety of works focused on water and its infinite forms, from abstract sculptural forms to painted renderings and photographs that hint at mythological themes.
The show brings together the works of a vast range of artists including Shawna Ankenbrandt, Kim Keever, Wayne Levin, Roxanne Faber Savage, Tanja Hollander, Sophia Collier, Michael Dweck, Bonnie Edelman, Zaria Forman, Eve Stockton, Cornelia Kubler Kavanagh, Samantha Keely Smith, and Karen Gunderson, who each interpret and envision water differently.
Take, for example, Kim Keever’s colorful abstract C-prints, created by photographing a cascade of paint diffusing through a 200-gallon tank of water to produce colorful, abstract, landscape-esque scenes that portray water as a material. Or sculptor Sophia Collier’s Splash, a wave form modeled on a surface section of water and carved out of acrylic—with dual significance, as some of her sources come from sound waves as well as water. Wayne Levin presents black-and-white photographs that conjure the idea of the vulnerable surfer, in control of his board but at the whim of an unforgiving and relentless surf.
Perhaps the most emblematic representations of the aqueous medium are works by Zaria Forman, several of whose expansive oceanic compositions, which she paints using only her fingers and paint, were featured on the hit Netflix series House of Cards. Through this diverse selection of interpretations of water, the show conveys that water, as an essential and pervasive element, and a substance in constant flux, is an engaging, dynamic and inspirational subject for art creation.
“Waterways III” is on view at Heather Gaudio Fine Art, New Canaan, Connecticut, June 5th–Sept. 6th, 2014.
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