Of Water Too Are the Grasses

Irene Pantelis
Curated by Aneta Georgievska-Shine

Wednesday, October 25th through Saturday, November 18th, 2023

“The works in this show were inspired by lawns and weeds, like the ones found in my suburban neighborhood in Maryland. As I begun to look more carefully at these ordinary bits of nature, my drawings unearthed a connection with childhood memories of long summers in the countryside of Uruguay, immersed in the grasslands of the pampas. The works also brought to my mind the increasing scarcity of underground water that all grasses need to thrive, the proliferation of toxins in our soil, and the promise of the simple grass as a viable tool for capturing carbon dioxide. As I drew these grassy subjects from North and South, water became a catalyst in my process. Brushing on a clear grid of tap water on the paper, I wove ink and other marks in and out of the fluid foundation. I allowed these tenuous streams to trickle on, making connections, disrupting, pooling together, creating barriers. Within my clumps of grass, water underwent many changes, like a mirror, taking on all manner of tones and viscosities from its surroundings, even evaporating into thin air.”