Past: Kathleen McCloud / Fresh Air

Fresh Air, an exhibit of Kathleen McCloud’s latest paintings, monoprints and indigo based collages, opens May 28th at GF Contemporary 707 Canyon Rd, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501

 

McCloud worked with the restrictions and isolation of the pandemic, sorting through her stockpile of materials which included indigo dyed fabrics, paper and objects she’d made over years of growing and harvesting indigo in her garden. The material focus on what was on hand led to a deeper relationship with the shades of indigo, from light sky blue to midnight, its link to healing and historic association with labor and power.

 

Collectively, it is a record of the journey, the ‘360-degree Howl’ as one of the paper constructions in the show is named. With nowhere to go, she grounded herself in the studio, took long walks and floated with uncertainty. The question of what heals and connects life from the micro to macro became her focus. The interplay of color and geometric patterns in Fresh Air are evidence of McCloud’s navigation and reckoning with life in this time.

 

“I’d look at the moon and stars and think of people around the world under the blanket of sky, feeling the same way, doing the same thing. I didn’t know I was making a magical-mystery-medicine show until I installed the small indigo dyed collages in the studio. A breath of fresh air, a cleansing. It was out of the blue- a gift. “

 

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