Flow States

“If there is magic contained on this planet, it is in water.” So says anthropologist and natural scientist Loren Eiseley in his book The Immense Journey. I have to say I agree. Never am I more fully alive and peacefully content than when I am in or near water. It is a balm for my spirit.

So when I am looking for a place to unwind, the pull I feel towards water is as strong as the ocean tides. It is no wonder, then, that I ended up here in the Pacific Northwest, where lakes, rivers, beaches, waterfalls, and marshes are always within reach.

In Flow States, I revisit some of my favorite encounters with water and explore its effects—the way it has shaped landforms, how its reflections yield mesmerizing symmetries, how its color is as mutable as the sky above, how its collision with autumn air produces an almost mystical fog.

Making these paintings (at least on the best days) brings me into a state of flow. Tearing and arranging the collage papers, detailing nature’s intricate designs, and gingerly building up the translucent layers of paint—these stages of creation fully engage me, mind and body, and everything else falls away.

Christine Gedye, October 2022