JANUARY 14 – MARCH 4, 2023

KIKI GAFFNEY
NEXUS

MEET THE ARTIST RECEPTION: Saturday, January 14, 4 – 6 PM | Talk at 5 PM

Pentimenti Gallery is thrilled to present its first exhibition of the new year, a solo show by Kiki Gaffney.

Kiki Gaffney’s works on paper celebrate nature’s careful balance between order and chaos. The high level of detail in her work invites the viewer to contemplate the everyday scenes of mother nature with higher regard. Kiki converts massive rock formations or wood logs into small, dense motifs which she observes from her long moment of contemplation in nature. Gaffney merges nature’s chaotic lines and structures with set patterns found in geometrical forms to elevate an already majestic landscape into a new context. She contrasts both earthly and man-made systems, and investigates a potential link between them.

Gaffney explores the passage of time not only in her patterns but in the process of making the work, meditating on a subject as she creates. The repetition of patterns creates documentation of energy. She uses graphite to maintain precise control over her mark-making and to create very fine details. In Shift (graphite, gold leaf on paper), the gold leaf changes depending on the light and the angle at which the piece is viewed. The incorporation of the gold leaf further elevates the subject matter to a new idol or relic. In others, the luminosity of her acrylic and colored pencil contrasts the graphite to create an interruption in the structure of the work. She takes the seemingly everyday and slows us down to gaze upon its features.

Kiki Gaffney graduated from Loyola College, Baltimore, (BA) and the University of the Arts, Philadelphia, (MFA). She has exhibited with Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA; Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery, Philadelphia, PA; Christys Art Center, Sag Harbor, NY; Krasdale Gallery, New York, NY; Modern West Fine Art, Salt Lake City, UT; Imperial Fine Art, San Francisco, CA; Susan Maasch Fine Art, Portland, ME; Julie Nester Gallery, Park City, UT. She is a five-time recipient of the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts grants and residency program. Her work is in the collection of Microsoft, Canon USA Inc., Sonoma State University, Capital One, and more and various private collections.

For all inquiries, please contact us at mail@pentimenti.com or +1 215.625.9990.