Adria Arch

I create nonrepresentational paintings expressing my bodily experience of the world. The works are not purely abstract, but an amalgam of the gestural with the precisely representational. Working in an intuitive tradition, I bring in the element of chance at the very beginning. The liquid spill, a pooling pour of paint, is the first mark, and my chosen way of activating space.

The origins of this body of work are from early 2014 when I spent a formative month in residency at Sanskriti Foundation in New Delhi. The foundation houses several small exhibit spaces and it was there that I learned of India’s rich tradition of shadow puppetry. Formed of elaborately cut and painted translucent skins, the puppets represent Hindu deities. The intricate edges and shapes resonated, leading me to revisit the poured paint studies I’d been trying out in the studio before my trip. I’d discovered that I was drawn to the natural pigment separations and shapes of the spill on the Mylar’s nonabsorbent surface – the rivulets of paint resembled the contours of the puppet deities’ hands, feet, headdresses, and limbs. But my work has nothing to do with the Hindu religious iconography. My dried paint puddles are up for interpretation, allowing an open...

Rhode Island School of Design
BFA Carnegie Mellon University
MFA Massachusetts College of Art
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2017 Abigail Ogilvy, Boston MA
2017 DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park
2016 Soprafina Gallery, Boston MA
2016 Arthouse1, London UK
2016 Abigail Ogilvy, Boston MA
2015 Passing Strange \ Hunt Gallery \ Mary Baldwin College, Staunton VA
2013 Adria Arch: Iconic \ The Art Complex Museum \ Duxbury MA
2011 Summer Constellation \ Frame 301 \ Montserrat College of Art \ Beverly MA
2011 On the Mark \ Danforth Museum of Art \ Framingham MA
2011 Brain Storms \ Bromfield Gallery \ Boston MA
2009 Glyphs- Constructions and Works on Paper \ Bromfield Gallery \ Boston MA
2007 Elaborations \ Bromfield Gallery \ Boston MA
2005 The Labyrinth Series \ Bromfield Gallery \ Boston MA