Jun 1, 2022
David Richard Gallery is pleased to debut Heather McGill’s newest series of artworks in the presentation, Invisible Bloom, her second solo exhibition with the Gallery.
The presentation includes 10 new paintings produced over the past 30 months during the pandemic. The new paintings were created with the artist’s novel process as she describes in the statement below. The compositions are abstract while the imagery is from the natural world and specifically from readymade fabrics and lace mass produced for women’s clothing and draperies. Each painting has many layers of imagery and paint that is then sanded to reveal colors and patterns below. Looking closer reveals floral and insect motifs bringing nature into the patterning and overall psychedelic feel as well as designs from iconic fashion designers.
Art historical references, numerous binaries, and subversions anchor the new work in painting, but McGill’s processes are rooted in sculpture, which dominated most of her studio practice and teaching career. Hence, the casting process with gel medium and textiles as stencils for patterns and images, as well as the use of automotive paints and lacquers comes naturally to the artist. The additions of painted and coordinated imagery on borders, and often more than one, functions as a frame, but also adds dimensionality and depth to the paintings and hence, making them object-like and co-locating them as sculpture.