MOLLY LASTRA PAINTING

The Waterways Collection

Rocks are not unimpressionable. They are, like all of us, shaped by a lifetime of events. I value the imperfect beauty of the close-up. I want to call attention to the weathered, overgrown, and eroded. I relate to these landscapes deeply. These rocks remain in spite of the brutality of their environment. I do, too. 

​

I find a lot of comfort in the repetitive mark-making of my paint application. My painting practice has become incredibly process-oriented. My surfaces are rough and dry, the paint has been worked into the canvas - I exhaust the edges of my brush marks so much that the entire image has a sort of blurred effect. The process is careful and laborious. These waterways are literal and symbolic reflections of my experiences with chronic illness. The water reshapes the rocks. I want to honor every scar.

​

Many of these pieces were created at the ChaNorth artist-in-residence program located in Pine Plains, New York.

ChaNorth is the upstate New York branch of the New York City based nonprofit, Chashama. New work will be added as the series develops.

​