Standing Still by Kathryn Gearon

On View April- May 2026

"My practice is rooted in drawing and painting, yet it is the process that drives the work. Moving between abstract painting, sculpture, and installation, I explore landscapes in all their forms — urban, geographical, imagined, and emotional — as well as the environmental forces that shape them. These layered terrains become metaphors for the equally complex architectures within us: neural pathways, networks of memory, and the lingering imprints of generational influence. Urban spaces, with their weathered walls and shifting surfaces, are a constant reference point. They are palimpsests — marked by grime, graffiti, and rust — where each layer obscures the last while laying the foundation for what is to come. This continual cycle of erasure and renewal parallels the way memory, experience, and history accumulate in the human mind. I see remembered mark-making as a form of storytelling — each gesture a fragment of narrative that connects the past to the present. In this way, my work weaves together personal and collective histories, exploring how generational legacies shape identity while also carving out space for autonomy and self-definition. Through processes of layering, obscuring, and revealing, I consider which marks are allowed to remain visible and which become invisible yet essential, forming the substrate for future gestures. My work invites reflection on how the landscapes we inhabit — both external and internal — are in a constant state of transformation, shaped by time, environment, and the unseen forces of the past." -Kathryn Gearon