Solo exhibit — West Gallery
Orbiting the Last Known Surroundings
This is Where I Used to Be
2017
mixed media
2017
mixed media
24 August — 16 September 2017
Orbiting the Last Known Surroundings is an extension of Carina Santos’ last show at Blanc Gallery, Satellites for Minor Planets, which begins with the suggestion of landscapes and geography as portraits or markers of the self. The first part of this series concerned itself with more of an investigation: what can somewhere say about what it surrounds?
Orbiting the Last Known Surroundings is an extension of Carina Santos’ last show at Blanc Gallery, Satellites for Minor Planets, which begins with the suggestion of landscapes and geography as portraits or markers of the self. The first part of this series concerned itself with more of an investigation: what can somewhere say about what it surrounds?
While the idea of Orbiting the Last Known Surroundings similarly involves satellites, both artificial
and natural, the shift in this show tends towards the more intimate: the interior life (likely a past
version) presents as tangible places that warrant closer, repeated observation.
Instead of desolate landscapes, the paintings this time feature fragmentary observations and visualizations, incomplete thoughts and stories. Though the main question remains—“What can I learn by gathering information from an observable distance?”—the motivations here are not quite the same.
Instead of desolate landscapes, the paintings this time feature fragmentary observations and visualizations, incomplete thoughts and stories. Though the main question remains—“What can I learn by gathering information from an observable distance?”—the motivations here are not quite the same.
Prior Presence I—IX
2017
oil on canvas
8 in. x 10 in.
Prior Presence X
2017
oil on canvas
8 in. x 10 in.
Whereas Satellites for Minor Planets is an investigation—a pursuit for things to be seen, and
therefore to exist—Orbiting the Last Known Surroundings is looking through the rubble with rapt
attention paid to fragments, isolated places, and certain specific things that could very well be
clues to who one might have been. What is the space one used to inhabit like? What can these
tangential bits of information do to complete a picture?
The title of the show signals the presence of a being returning to a place where someone had been. “This is Where I Used to Be,” one work is called. Rather than an initial meeting, this is a look back, perhaps from a distant place or maybe from somewhere from which you barely moved at all.
The title of the show signals the presence of a being returning to a place where someone had been. “This is Where I Used to Be,” one work is called. Rather than an initial meeting, this is a look back, perhaps from a distant place or maybe from somewhere from which you barely moved at all.