MFA Mid-Residence Exhibition
A402 Gallery
California Institute of the Arts
24700 McBean Pkwy, Valencia, CA
January 13 - January 18, 2025

The Ancient Greeks did not have a word for the color blue. Colors were understood in terms of tone, intensity, and metaphor.¹ In The Odyssey, Homer describes the sea as “wine-dark.”² The Greeks recognized that the names we designate for colors alone cannot encapsulate the complex ways color speaks to the soul—both in perception, and in recollection. The word “blue” cannot contain the infinite appearances by which sunlight reflects off of the sea—itself constantly renewing and changing—as the sun moves around it.

Color is not motionless—it is the reaction that occurs when light hits the Earth. We forget, because it moves so quickly, that light takes a certain amount of time to reach our eyes, so that every perceived color is already a memory. Our memories themselves are stained with color. Painting, in retrieving lost color, is an exercise in remembering—restoring the forgotten to redeem what is vital.  

Through multi-textured, atmospheric scenes made with watercolor and ink poured from high viewpoints, and the avoidance of brushes, opting instead for smudging and smearing with hands, Wine-Dark is an exploration of the way in which perception and memory affect color. A stain or pour is up to chance, whereas a stitch is more deliberate—yet, gravity still dictates the downward direction of a hanging thread. The introduction of sewing highlights the friction between artistic control and happenstance, between memory and artistic intention.

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-Rebecca Poarch​