Sara Nightingale Gallery is pleased to present Melora Griffis, quarantine XIX, nineteen paintings from the lockdown, on view now through Sept. 10th.
The most authentic work I create comes from a place where I am channeling, rather than guiding, my impulses. During the lockdown, I was able to sit with long stretches of time, and I began stitching together objects I had been collecting. Textiles, hair, leather and fabric are repurposed and given a stage. Paint functions as scenery behind the subjects, creating a theatrical quality, which stems from my background in the performance arts. Fierce, wild, and protective of their young, a bear and a beast hibernate; mine are made of velvet. Each scene holds a story with personal meaning in relation to this time and place. Although there may be a sense of foreboding or loneliness, there is beauty in the humanity of the dancer waiting to dance, and the playwright waiting to illuminate the stage again. Poison crowns are adorned with jewels that shine, when I slow down enough to sew them. These paintings are, for me, windows allowing light to fall on chaos, darkness, and even violence, reflecting back a delicate sublimity.
Melora Griffis
Melora Griffis, playwright, silk, thread, acrylic and glitter on cotton, 12″ x 10″
Due to the Covid 19 pandemic, the gallery is limiting the number of visitors at any one time, and everyone is required to wear a mask. If you would like to have a private viewing in the gallery, please contact us for an appointment. For more information on the gallery please visit www.saranightingale.com
