Leah Rainey: One Day A Garden
June 9th - July 1st, 2023
Reception: Friday June 9th, 7-9PM
We are delighted to present "One Day A Garden," a solo exhibition showcasing recent works by Leah Rainey. Please join us for a reception on Friday, June 9th, from 7-9PM. The exhibition will continue until Saturday, July 1st. We look forward to your visit.
Leah Rainey's exhibition of paintings, "One Day A Garden," is inspired by a longing for a place in nature and a desire to have and return to the intimacy of submerging your hands in the earth.
The starting point for this series of works originated from Rainey's fascination with a piece of vintage fabric from the '60s with a simple graphic pattern of a circle and teardrop. Between Rainey's fingers, she would distort the original pattern and create new shapes and compositions by folding and flattening the fabric. The distorted motif of a teardrop and dissected circle combined to suggest petals and floral patterns, and Rainey plays with these as symbols of an ever-present melancholy for a utopia that feels out of reach for many.
Similar to the creation of previous work, Rainey uses an approach of adding and subtracting to create the final paintings. Using awkward tools such as scrapers and scrub brushes within the varied spaces of the compositions determines the nature and directions of the mark making and where light hits the surface. The surface energy of the paintings is dynamic and abrasive but also reminiscent of the material source and textile surfaces, such as felt or velour: organic and tactile, worn and loved.
Larger paintings are in conversation with smaller paintings, like ghostly excerpts of the parent work. The smaller paintings are the same arrangement of shapes, with the idea that they're seen at night with only their highlighted edges visible in a fading light. Together, they reflect nostalgia, romance, and sensuality that conjure images and illusions of an oasis.
“Between two fingers, folded
fabric becomes the garden
bed to dream upon
Scrape the surface, scrub
like a desperate squirrel
furious to find a bulb or two
Gather the flowers to squash, suppress
beneath plexiglass and locked
between the pages of a sketchbook
Canopied shelter drips, dew
blends into the aching ground
awakening the dormant roots
Pick at the dirt under fingernails, finding
hope for a piece of fluorite
while longing for a garden of her own.”
