In Between Dar & Light, There’s Color
Rachel Avena is exploring the color black, as it appears in shadows, silhouettes, and the night sky. During the darkest days of the year, she asks the viewer to consider where they find light.
In her exhibition, “In Between Dark & Light, There’s Color” at Aquarium Gallery and Studios, Rachel Avena shares a bit of her own spiritual practice of sorcery and manifestation through her handwork and visual works. Included in the exhibition are chalk pastel drawings of the Aurora Borealis as seen last May in the northern states of America, chalk pastel reproductions of strangers’ auras, an installation of knitted
netted form and light, and a life-sized sculpture of a woman with crescent moon sitting on a vintage chair,drink and a smoke in hand. Entitled "Hestia," the life-sized soft sculpture was modeled on an unknown woman from a found photograph and is named after the Greek goddess and keeper of hearths. The past is a source of inspiration, strength and of course nostalgia for the artist, and Avena often looks to ancestors for answers. As the artist struggles to remain sober and make art, she finds the motivation to keep creating and remain drink and smoke free for another day with each piece finished. Hestia looks onto you as you move through the gallery, and with her facial features obstructed, you will never really know or see her, just the mask she presents to the world. “Free” is another work that was inspired by a found photograph. Discovered by the artist on the ground at the Taos farmer’s market in 2016, it is an image of a naked woman jumping into an unknown lake, smiling as she peers at you from over her shoulder. The artist has held onto the photo for years, and has now rendered the image in pencil. With most of the drawing being of the darkened lake, there is a sense the woman is being swallowed by her own leap, or possibly frozen and hovering over the lake. The photograph has been an example for the artist that complete feminine freedom is attainable, but cautionary.
The lights are dimmed in the gallery, and it is the artist’s hope that the viewer will lean in close to the works. Hopefully the works will bring light and color through the dark.
Rachel Avena has also created a merch table for all of the wintery broken hearts and melancholic, hopeful romantics. The works presented on the table include archetypal imagery and recipes, in black.
