November 21, 2020 – January 24, 2021
This exhibition showcases the work of CT artist Melissa Barbieri, highlighting a recent series of large-scale works on paper. Working in watercolor and India ink, we see the influence of the desert of the American Southwest on Barbieri’s oceanic perceptions. Transcribing her visions in calligraphy and symbolism, Barbieri has recorded her stream of consciousness in an uninterrupted flow, often working late into the night. By combining text with symbols and imagery she has produced detailed, highly personal works of art reminiscent of codices or scrolls, containing elements of science and nature, history and literature, philosophy and spirituality, and resulting in a substantive body of work, inviting the viewer to explore her dreams and visions.
Long known for her large-scale oceanic paintings in oil and Fresco, this exhibition combines Barbieri’s vision of the power of the deep sea with the vastness of the high desert where she spends much of her time, exploring the dichotomy and duality of both ocean and desert, seeing them as mirrored environments of one another.
