SPACE B
STILL REMAINS
BETRA FRAVAL
This exhibition is an exploration of the impressions left behind when something material has gone. The paintings and objects forming this body of work act as metaphors for the impermanence of all things, as well as our tendency to cling to material objects as mementos and markers of time passing.
With a nod toward the genre of still life painting, the botanical forms referenced in these works become allegories for human relationships and gestures; the ivy clings and leaves it’s mark; the plant forms grow, intertwine and conceal; the dying flowers are kept and preserved. There is a ghostliness that lingers and is never completely erased.
The materiality of the paint mirrors the experience of control and restraint, holding on tightly and letting go. The paintings are rendered with care and then selectively dissolved in a process of erasure and potential disintegration. The material process is unpredictable and uncontrollable; it leaves behind an impression that stains the surface of the canvas.
The imprint is all that remains.
