My Blue Friend

A solo show by Arielle Zamora

October 24th - November 30th 2024

Presented by Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, NYC

179 10th Ave

New York, NY

Artist Statement

When my best friend died, the sunset was tilting into twilight on the Oregon Coast. She sat on the cliffside high above the ocean crashing against the rocks and sandstone bluffs, looking out at the same sky we once admired together as children. In that moment, she quietly took her own life. For over two years, I’ve pondered what she saw and heard as she lived her last few moments looking out over the ocean blue.

These paintings are my interpretation of that day—the colors and sounds I imagine she encountered. They are also a reflection on the power of the sea and how it meets the land. Through these works, I’ve sought to capture the currents, wave breaks, and tides, as well as the soft fractures and layers of the cliffs that absorbed the sunset she was so drawn to.

My work has long explored the meditative quality of repetition, and with these paintings, I felt that repetition was essential in my attempt to connect with her and understand that day more deeply. As I carved lines into the paintings, I could hear the persistent swoosh of the sea below. Each shape I painted recalled the blinking buoy on the horizon, a beacon that her eyes might have followed. The rhythms in these works mirror the relentless pulse of the waves, eternally reaching for the shore as they echo the rhythm of my heart, trying to tell her, “I love you, I love you, I love you…”

You are my Blue Friend.

Blue, as your favorite color.

Blue, as the color of your door.

Blue, as the sea.

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