The Goldmark Cultural Center’s John H. Milde Gallery is proud to present “Finding Balance II”, a solo exhibition of new paintings by Goldmark artist Mikey Hernandez.
The exhibition is on display from 4 February 2025 to 28 February 2025, with a closing reception on Saturday 2/22, from 1pm - 3pm.
About the Exhibition
I make large-scale, non-representational abstract works on paper using watercolor, ink, gouache, chalk pastel, colored pencil and sometimes charcoal. As a recent Master of Fine Art (MFA) graduate, this body of work is a culmination of my Master of Arts (MA) thesis artwork (Transcendence Series) and my Master of Fine Arts (MFA) thesis work (Finding Balance). My artwork derives from the practice of mindfulness, meditation and other self-healing practices such as yoga and body-mind wellness. The means of incorporating these practices into my life derive from desires to overcome old life-instilled practices such as hypermasculinity, machismo, and toxic-masculinity. With the water mediums, I remind myself that it is ok to give up control, surrender the process, and work with the process to find a better outcome. In the end, each piece is a reminder of my hopes to overcome hyper-masculinity, find inner peace, work for the elevation of humanity and search for my place in this world and universe.
My work explores the concept of mindfulness as the body is in a yoga pose. I am thinking of the body as it is in a static position while being conscious of the strength and energy involved in finding balance. At the same time, I’m considering the air circulating around us, our body heat projecting from us, and blood and oxygen circulating within us. My works are process-driven and a culmination of intention, chance and intuition. My process allows me to lose control and gain control while finding order within the chaos. I consider my works to be a form of mindfulness as I work intuitively to make decisions to bring movement, depth, texture and balance to the composition. I allow the process to develop on its own as I am not bound for these to be seen as figurative.
Each work is mysterious with an ethereal or fluid-like quality that is often perceived as a topographical or cosmic-like landscape and they play ambiguously on the micro and the macro. The scale of these works immediately catches the attention of the viewer, while the details in the textures draw people in closer. The colors provide a sense of emotion that can vary from tension to ease.
Through scale, color and details of the artwork, it is my aim to facilitate a space where the viewer can experience the sublime. Lights, both natural and artificial, can also help to make the space feel inviting and provide the viewer with a sense of ease and peace. Like the Rothko Chapel in Houston, it is my intention for the viewer to be present and contemplate the mystery in the artwork as well as the mystery in their lives.
-Mikey Hernandez