KITH AND PINE

March 03 - March 30,2023

From Barbara Davis Gallery: "Kith and Pine explores the simultaneously dynamic and gentle lines of Mel Davis and Deborah Zlotsky. The strong clean edges of Zlotsky's abstracted shapes speak with the bouncing and blurred movement of Davis', instigating a call to consider the tug between what importantly grounds us, and what urgently frees us. Mel Davis’ abstract paintings are distinguished by being more than a painted object; they create a reality of their own. Davis forms collages from elements derived from popular culture as well as the natural world around her. This source material is used as a first thought and memory aid to compile more fully orchestrated compositions for transposition to canvas. Painted in both vibrant and soft hues that push the limits of physicality and test our perceptions of material, the work is a consequence of replicas of replications, which is faithfully and artfully organized and interpreted by Davis. The aesthetic of fragmentation is inherent in her painting process, adapting a multi-layered, harmonious composition, using singular elements in a medley of styles. For Davis, this intricate system reflects the complexity of navigating information today. At the center of Davis’s project is the question; how do we absorb information and arrange it?   Deborah Zlotsky uses abstraction as a language to tell a story obliquely, to form a narrative hiding in plain sight. Her paintings express ideas about cognition, habits, family dynamics, and cultural ancestries, and how they become embodied in individuals. Because the body and the mind understand these formative legacies in different ways, contradictions characterize the visual worlds she builds. Using syntax of shapes, stripes, and tromp l'oeil passages, she conjures visible imagined situations at the intersection of abstraction and perception. Incongruities and shape-shifting - between flatness and volume; geometry and naturalism; fictional pressure and gravity, and surface smears and drips - refer to complex and internalized sensations, psychological and generational repercussions, and the coincidences of time.   All together, the works challenge each other, fall in love with each other, dream together, fight and make up. In Kith and Pine, we find connection in all our relationships and yearn for what they could be, finding that we attract what we need. The strength of Zlotsky's work finds softness in its communion with Davis', and the free spirit of Davis' work finds roots in Zlotsky's. We can embrace inspiration from the playful conversation taking place within the gallery, playing along and joining in to discover our holistic selves.     Deborah Zlotsky uses abstraction as a language to tell a story obliquely, to form a narrative hiding in plain sight. Her paintings express ideas about cognition, habits, family dynamics, and cultural ancestries, and how they become embodied in individuals. Because the body and the mind understand these formative legacies in different ways, contradictions characterize the visual worlds she builds. Using syntax of shapes, stripes, and tromp l'oeil passages, she conjures visible imagined situations at the intersection of abstraction and perception. Incongruities and shape-shifting - between flatness and volume; geometry and naturalism; fictional pressure and gravity, and surface smears and drips - refer to complex and internalized sensations, psychological and generational repercussions, and the coincidences of time.   All together, the works challenge each other, fall in love with each other, dream together, fight and make up. In Kith and Pine, we find connection in all our relationships and yearn for what they could be, finding that we attract what we need. The strength of Zlotsky's work finds softness in its communion with Davis', and the free spirit of Davis' work finds roots in Zlotsky's. We can embrace inspiration from the playful conversation taking place within the gallery, playing along and joining in to discover our holistic selves."

Reception: March 03, 2023 | 6-8 pm

Barbara Davis Gallery 4411 Montrose Boulevard
Houston, TX 77006
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