It's now been a couple months since my debut solo art exhibition in an art gallery in San Francisco, CA. I've been wanting to do some writing about it for awhile... this is my first time writing a blog about anything, so I'm grateful to be starting this new adventure by reflecting on my recent debut solo exhibition, "Poetic Abstraction."
The Creative Breakthrough:
Before I started creating for the solo show, I was frustrated with how long my creative process and method for creating my original abstract paintings was taking. It felt heavy and slow, like walking through mud, and because of that, creating felt like a struggle in the studio. The artwork I made was beautiful, sure, but it took so long to make that it left me feeling unmotivated.
One day in the studio, I remember feeling so frustrated with all of it. I was staring at a painting and remember feeling like it just wasn't going anywhere. Suddenly, I put a glove on my hand, squeezed some cool magenta paint into my palm, and before I could even think about it, I had smeared that pile of magenta paint across a canvas I was stuck on. It also felt so cathartic, as if my mind, body, and soul let out a huge sigh of relief.
Painting with my hands was the breakthrough I needed. It felt so freeing. From then on I was painting with my hands, creating constantly, and that continued through the making of the entire collection of work my solo show.
What Inspired the name "Poetic Abstraction"?
I was talking to a collegue, fellow artist, and friend named Bao on the phone one day, expressing my concerns about not knowing what the theme of my upcoming solo show should be.
To him, it was so clear - he expressed that he loved the poems I was starting to intergrate into my work. "Maybe it should be called something like 'Abstract Poetry' or... 'Poetic Abstraction'" Bao said, thinking out loud. I gasped, and I knew we had discovered something there. I felt it right away. I remember he said "Oooh that's good. If you don't use it I'm going to use it for something!" We laughed and I said, "No no! I'm definitely using that. That's IT!"
I'm so grateful for that conversation, I'll never forget it. I was too close to the problem to see the solution right in front of me all along.
My Experience At The Solo Exhibition
It was beautiful to see it all come together. The gallery space, the abstract art I created, and the poems I wrote inspired by each one... together, these things created something beautiful and unique. They felt much more impactful together than apart. Honestly, it all came together better than I could have imagined for my first solo exhibition.
We hung the art up the way we felt it flowed together. I hand-wrote corresponding poems on the walls next to some of the paintings. Using my real handwriting for this was an intentional choice - I wanted this show to feel really intimate, vulnerable, and personal. I wanted it to feel like I was inviting you to read my diary, or my poetry journal... an invitation written to you, to view my heart and thoughts.
I wanted create an environment that allowed people to feel safe and seen, and allow them to experience that feeling through my work and the space.
I wrote my intention for the show on the wall:
"This show is a permission slip to myself and to anyone else who needs it. Permission to express what's in you, to love and accept yourself, to grow, and to live authentically because nothing in this life is guaranteed."
With this intention and my ability to be emotionally open and vulnerable, I believe it allowed other people space to do the same, and to connect deeply with the work.
I saw strangers and friends with tears in their eyes. People I had just met said it was healing for them to see this show. They shared stories about how they could relate to what the poems said. They shared how it made them feel, and shared the poems with the people they love. Strangers hugged me and thanked me. One person told me it was so romantic and beautiful to see so much writing by hand in the a time where everything is digital and text.
I loved hearing and witnessing all of these things... it was such a beautiful, unexpected gift and I'm so grateful for every moment of it.
Notable Pieces from the Collection
The "Remnants" Series is a series of works I created in the studio from repurposed dried acrylic paint scraps. It started off as a fun way to use scraps of died up acrylic paint leftover on my palettes, but it turned into a series that I deeply connected with. Their organic shapes and texture and color make them endlessly interesting to look at. There are 9 total in this series, and 7 of them sold during the exhibition.
"Wild" was the first painting to presell from the collection. It sold before the show opened when a buyer of mine fell in love with it and had to have it. During the show, another buyer actually offered double the price if the client would be willing to part with it. While I was flattered, I couldn't allow that to happen. But I definitely knew this piece was special when I created it. There's a wildness and ferocity within it that I deeply love and enjoyed making.
"At The Threshold" this painting also sold before the opening of the show. Another favorite of mine, I knew this piece was small but strong to it's bones. I chose to use this painting's image for almost all of my marketing of the exhibition itself because I knew it was an impactful piece.
Poems: I hand-wrote all of the poems to each of the 32 paintings included in the show. Some of them were written on the walls next to the paintings in the gallery, and I placed all of the remaining poems in a binder which was located in the front room of the gallery so that people could read them.
There are 32 pieces of art in this collection. I love each of them uniquely, but people really resonated with specific ones. If you'd like to explore the Poetic Abstraction Collection, click here.
Wrapping Up
This show was a success and I'm proud of what I did on many levels. It was a much more wonderful and heartwarming experience than I ever could have imagined.
Putting "Poetic Abstraction" out into the world as my first solo exhibition reaffirmed for me that what I create in abstract art and poems is wanted and needed in this world.
People want permission to feel their feelings and to share them, but often they won't (or don't know how to) give themselves permission to do so...
Maybe that's why I'm here.
Maybe that's my purpose - to help people give themselves permission to feel their feelings, to share them, to love and accept themselves, and to live authentically.
I hope I can do that for others by doing these things in my own life for myself, as well as through my art. That's what "Poetic Abstraction" is all about.
xx Laura