new work: "from dreams i had of flowers," desert landscapes, flowers, and my relationship to both
23 new paintings debuting at 29 palms art gallery tomorrow, thu 8/31
Delighted to share new paintings — an exhibition entitled, "from dreams i had of flowers," which opens tomorrow at 29 Palms Art Gallery in 29 Palms, California.
The show features 23 new abstract figurative paintings on the themes of desert landscapes, flowers, and my relationship to both. The paintings were painted this summer across the deserts of the American Southwest: Terlingua, TX during my residency at Willow House, Tucumcari, NM during my residency at Sunlit Ranch and at home in Joshua Tree, CA.
If you've been with me for a long time, you know this is the smallest I've ever worked (a request from the gallery). I found so much freedom in the small size and felt it was perfect for the subject matter: able to held in your hands, against your heart, just like a flower. It was also a refreshing surprise to feel called to work with oil paint after focusing on acrylic washes for the past year.
The paintings are available to purchase here. The show opens tomorrow, Thursday 8/31 (on the full moon, of course) and there will be an artist reception on Saturday 9/2 from 4-6p. If you are in the desert, I would love for you to come! The show will close Saturday 9/30 and gallery hours are Thursday - Sunday, 12-3p or by appointment.
Please note all paintings will ship first week of October, after the show closes.
This is a collection of mini collections around the same theme but done in different, yet complementary, palettes. It also includes 5 self-portraits, the first I’ve done since 2020. Over the coming weeks I will dive more deeply into select paintings. In the meantime, each painting has a detailed description of motivation and process on its page and I’ve included my statement on the collection below.
This is, by far, the boldest and most fearless I’ve ever painted; for much of the summer, I spent 8-10 hours a day in the studio and even longer if you counted the many nights I painted in my dreams. I am excited for this new direction and feel I am only just scratching the surface; grateful to have you here with me. If you have any questions, please reach out by replying to this e-mail. Be well — I’ll be back in your inbox soon.
on ‘from dreams i had of flowers’
artist statement (alex maceda, joshua tree, august 2023)
I increasingly understand my role as Artist more as Instrument than Musician; if inspiration (divine or otherwise) writes the notes, my role is to make manifest those notes in the way that only I can uniquely play. The task at hand is then not only to hone the tone of my instrument (that is, how I play) but also to hone how to listen – how to receive said inspiration, said notes.
By necessity then, my role is divining the muse – remembering the images I see in dreams or meditations, seeking the figurative form in an abstract composition, listening to the sounds of the natural world that increasingly seem to speak directly to me. The latter has happened, more and more strongly, the more I observe flowers.
Flowers, whose subtle colors grow more vibrant with observation. Flowers, who make “no sounds at all” but yet who seem to speak more and more clearly to me. Are these colors and voices real or imagined? Divine inspiration or a random firing of synapses, an electric glitch? And in any case, how are these observations captured and made visible onto canvas? How do I play the notes of the composition laid out before me?
Many of my paintings come to me in dreams or in meditation; often, I literally paint in my dreams. While painting at residencies in New Mexico and Texas this summer, I began to see very different images than I’ve ever seen before. Rather than the splashes of color that inform my abstract compositions, I saw symmetrical patterns, abstracted bodies and soft light emanating from shapes that were entering my consciousness via the crown of my head. These images became the seed of this collection, the beginning of an abstract figurative body of work that I feel I will be exploring for a long time.
Love all of these so so much!