Shelter in Place

“Shelter in Place” solo exhibition of drawings by Patricia Smith

In a response to the current COVID-19 crisis we are presenting a solo online exhibition by Patricia Smith, entitled "Shelter in Place".  These works were created in 2015-2017, prior to the global outbreak, which now has found many people experiencing real-life 'shelter-in-place' orders.  These works address the psychological borders and walls that we create.  Patricia Smith offers a visual reference to feelings and impulses that can occur in emotional isolation, which many are manifesting as a response to physical isolation.

"Shelter in Place" features drawings about protection, containment, isolating feelings and impulses.  These works resonate in today's climate of self-isolation, social distancing and the impact on our psyche.  

Patricia Smith uses a highly detailed pen and ink technique with watercolor washes to reference the style of old maps, as these drawings relate to architecture, cartography and images of structures.  Patricia asks the viewer to investigate and look for courses of entry, defining different sectors with text. The drawings are designated as plot plans, and can be considered as schematics of imagined constructions for containment of emotional states. 

As can be seen in her "Plot Plan 10616: Potentially Materialized Triple Confinement Study" a three chamber structure depicts two closed forms labeled: 'oblation' which could be perceived as closed place of offering and 'oblivion' which is depicted as a blue pool of water.  The third ‘chamber' in this drawing is an open compartment that potentially could be entered from the curved wall passage: this location is labeled: ablution- which is something that we are all feeling as we enter and leave our places of containment.  There is an eerie sense of prophetic sensibilities in these labeled designations: ‘ablution’: One must clean and sanitize one's self each time they go outside, it is somehow comforting to relate this to a more ceremonial act of purification, ‘oblation’: bringing an offering to your family of food or other necessities, and diving deep into the security of self-isolation and into ‘oblivion'.

"A few years ago, I made a series of drawings that I gathered under the title of "Shelter in Place," a phrase which now horribly reverberates. During that time, the news was full of terrorist attacks, school shootings and the surprise election of a President whose character we New Yorkers were already painfully familiar with. All of it seeped into my work. The imaginary buildings and structures that I mapped out offered up compartments or holding tanks for thoughts and feelings that needed to be controlled, organized or locked away.

At a time when a few of the most extreme (and richest) among us retreat to actual bunkers, the rest of us build our mental compartments to insulate us from those thoughts that threaten to topple the visions we have so carefully constructed. I do hope our shelters will provide us some comfort and protection during this strange and difficult time." - Patricia Smith

Look deeply at the text and the information that Patricia is sharing with us in these works, you can find solace in these meditative pieces that can bring a feeling of self -clarity to mixed emotions we are all feeling in these times of isolation.

These are best to view in person, as you are rewarded with your visual investigation of these drawings.  Meticulous pen-work and considered color unfold beautifully the closer you approach these works.  In lieu of in-person viewing - there is a 'zoom in' feature online that replicates the sensation of visual inquiry and reward, experienced in these works.

Front Room Gallery • 48 Hester Street • NY, NY 10002 • 718-782-2556

THURSDAY - SUNDAY 12-6PM - TEMPORARILY CLOSED TO PUBLIC VIEWING UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

GALLERY LIGHTS WILL BE ON 24 HOURS AND EXHIBITIONS CAN BE FULLY VISIBLE THROUGH STOREFRONT