remember what it is to be me
Ildiko Butler Gallery, New York
2022

"A person in her twenties has been a child for most of her life, but as time goes by that portion that is childhood becomes smaller and smaller, more and more distant, more and more faded, though they say at the end of life the beginning returns with renewed vividness, as though you had sailed all the way around the world and were going back into the darkness from which you came."

— Rebecca Solnit, The Blue of Distance

I’m drawn to the fluid materiality of watercolor and the coarseness of wood. I explore the memory that the plywood holds of its past as a tree, its ridges and its impurities. The watercolor seeps through its cracks, taking on the shape of the wood in curious and unexpected ways.

These unique aspects of the material I’m working with provide a deeper layer into the subject matter I’m drawn to: an obscured evening glow, a hazy San Francisco skyline, the remnants of wine at a dinner party.

Rebecca Solnit and Joan Didion’s musings continuously danced across my mind when realizing these paintings. Their words on coming of age in California and their coming to terms with the difficulty of being women were reflected in my accompanying booklet.

Roses up the Staircase
watercolor on plywood
2022

Exhibition announcement postcard
2022

Exhibition booklet
Table of contents
2022

At the Table
watercolor on plywood
2022

Bodega Flowers
watercolor on plywood
2022

remember what it is to be me
Ildiko Butler Gallery, New York
2022

Exhibition announcement postcard
2022

Exhibition booklet
Artwork page
2022

After the Movies
watercolor on plywood
2022

Exhibition booklet
Writing sample and binding
2022

Cabin in the Snow
watercolor on plywood
2022

Exhibition booklet
Inspiration images
2022

Fire Sun
watercolor on plywood
2022

Exhibition booklet
Colophon
2022

Lara Sophia Foley

Projects

Index

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