At the end of his novel Howard’s End, E.M. Forster wrote: “Only connect! That was the whole of her sermon. Only connect the prose and the passion, and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its height. Live in fragments no longer.”
In her paintings, Ana Medina reflects on the dissociation that occurred during the pandemic—physical separation from friends and other people in general, and a growing dependence on digital communication full of the exaggerations and untruths of social media.
Shadow Self, oil on wood panel, 16 x 22"
“My paintings are a comment on our time,” she says. “We are making great leaps in technology and how we connect. At the same time we’re getting further disconnected from the importance of our physical reality. My work is about connection, affection, longing. During Covid we emphasized our technological lives rather than actual moments together. We need solitude but also social connection. We can’t function with just one or the other.”
Peaches, gouache on archival watercolor paper, 7 x 10"
In her new work, she says, “a dialogue is opened about how we care for, and why we interact with each other in the way that we do. The works share a common affection despite their variety of subjects and environments. The scenes are ambiguous enough to let the viewer participate in the construction of the depicted event and in the creation of the identities of the figures represented. What the viewer feels from each scene reflects what they bring to it from their individual life experience, which is rewarding because every viewer has a different experience of each painting and a different idea of what it means.
“These paintings are all done from my own photographic references, and my source materials are all from spontaneous moments. The process of painting is appropriate because it lets me spend time recreating, and in a sense, prolonging the moments I choose to represent—in stark contrast to how quickly we consume and discard digital memories today.”
Moapa Valley, oil on aluminum Panel, 75 x 65"
Medina’s work in a variety of media and scale will featured in a solo exhibition at Billis Williams Gallery in Los Angeles from October 14 through November 11.
The works range in scale from Peaches, a 7-by-10-inch gouache on paper to Moapa Valley, a 75-by-65-inch oil on aluminum panel. Faced with the size of the aluminum panel, she was compelled to depict an experience of awe. Peachesis the intimate sharing of a moment, the simple gesture of offering something wonderful to another. “The paintings are great moments and small moments. There’s not much in between.”
White Sands, oil on wood panel, 24 x 30"
Although the figures in White Sands are separated in space, there is “the sense of their wanting to connect with each other in some way,” she explains. “Each feels the other’s presence in the shared space, alive with potential.” —
Billis Williams Gallery 2716 S. La Cienega Boulevard • Los Angeles, CA 90034 • (310) 838-3685 www.billiswilliams.com
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