David Nolan: Sky From Below (March 7-May 3)
Flying above her homeland of Iraq, Vian Sora was inspired to develop a new series of paintings based on the familiar vista she could see below, and the ensuing reflections on a childhood experienced through political tumult and the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. Sky From Below, the series that came out of this powerful observational period, captures landscapes which speak to the artist’s intimate connection to her home country, while continuing to explore an evolving relationship with displacement, memory, and resilience. The paintings blend abstraction with vivid, almost dreamlike topographies – flooded fields of color disrupted by dynamic gestures that evoke both destruction and regeneration (in flashes of fuschia, bright yellow, and deep greens and blues). The aerial perspective seems to have been orchestrated to allow for an examination of Iraq not just as a place of origin, but as a constantly shifting entity, shaped by history and the enduring spirit of its people, and global communities affected by harsh discourse and concerning swings in groupthink ideologies. “The work ties into the current political climate in responding to the high level of polarization around the world,” Sora explained. “It also responds to the shock and awe many feel toward current politics. Catch this show before the artist’s first first museum survey exhibition opens at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art in June.
