Exhibitions
DANA OLDFATHER: LAVENDER MILE
The Red Arrow Gallery / 919 Gallatin Ave. July 6 - 27th
Dana Oldfather
Red Arrow is thrilled to present, Lavender Mile, Dana Oldfather's third solo exhibition with the gallery. Lavender Mile includes ten paintings that explore reflections of the destinations where she finds peace, solitude, and gathers inspiration.
“The work in this exhibition is based on the experience of getting the miles in, moving across land with an open sky above my head, away from home, and feeling free". – Dana Oldfather
“My family and I live close to the city and have a postage stamp of a yard and garden, so I must leave the house to see a lot of nature. While on walks with my friends, hikes alone, foraging, on kayaking and camping trips with my family, or drives across the country, I often take reference photographs to study later for possible future paintings. Some reference photographs are never used, and some will sit in my camera roll for years before I use them. Even though I use these images loosely, and often in combination, they are important to my process. I think of them like mental notes rather than something to copy directly. The photos act as a jumping off point, something to interpret and bring to life in a new way, with my own sensibility of form and color, through sketchbook drawing and multiple layers of paint on linen.
The fresh air and landscape I move through inspire me. Hiking and kayaking through the woods in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee, without the constant interruption of technology or the need to be anywhere at a certain time, I can truly relax and experience wonder. Wide open spaces, shades of green and violet earth undulating and receding through atmosphere, give me a feeling of expansiveness, as though my body can stretch up and out over the ground. At the same time, I become humbled and wistful at the evidence of my tininess in relation to the largesse of the hills and the trees and our ecosystem. Studying the volume of diverse flora, I am reminded of my fallibility and the mysteries of the universe yet to be discovered. This back and forth between feelings of growth and loss is the pathos at the root of this work. The paintings in this exhibition are based on the experience of getting the miles in, moving across land with an open sky above my head, away from home, and feeling free.” – Dana Oldfather, Lavender Mile Exhibition Statement
Image: Dana Oldfather, Dandelion Study, 2024, Oil on linen, 20” x 20”
