Art venue Galerie Tangerine, a Branch of Daigh Rick Landscape Architects, is excited to be hosting an exhibit of paintings by local artist Wendy Walker Silverman, entitled, An Opal Ring and the Stories That Scared Me, on display through August 9, 2019. An artist talk, including an unveiling of the tales behind the titles of Wendy’s work (+ libations AND live music!), will be held on Thursday, July 11 from 6:00 – 8:00 PM in the gallery. The artist’s work dives deep into the color, smells, sounds, shapes and tastes that are so tightly entwined in her dispensation of remembrance onto canvas.

An Opal Ring and the Stories That Scared Me features a wide array of mediums, dimensions, and nearly every color amongst the spectrum; however, despite their differences, they all maintain one common theme: they derive from a very specific and profound memory that have been imprinted as a result of the artist’s Louisiana upbringing. Wendy tells the tale behind the title of her solo show –

"The title of the show references my childhood: An opal ring was a treasured gift to me from my parents, and the beauty of that stone became a small world I would disappear into—an opalescent quality appears in many of the works in this exhibition, achieved through layers upon layers of thinly applied glazes. The stories that scared me were the ones I dwelt on the most. The fairy tales that featured ill-fated children; experiences with the supernatural and unexplained; the crimes and tragedies of regional and family lore; the Sunday tours in the old church cemetery with my friends to spin tales about and visit with the inhabitants of our favorite gravesites—all of these stories made an indelible impression on me, and appear like apparitions themselves in my work.

In this body of paintings, my very specific childhood memories are represented in their most distilled, ephemeral form, polished like rocks in a stream by my continued recollection of them. I am conveying to the viewer flashes of these memories through abstraction; my sensory experiences are represented through color, line, texture, and mark-making, leaving space for the observer to contemplate, recall their personal memories, or create their own narratives. Color, smells, sounds, shapes and tastes are so tightly interwoven in my processing of memory onto canvas, that I find myself thinking about tasting notes in wine or olfactory notes in perfumes as I paint...’This painting has top notes of live oak, humid bayous, Spanish moss, vinegary hot peppers and oak casks; middle notes of foggy apparitions, orange-oiled mahogany antiques and heart-pine floors; and surprisingly lingering bottom notes of crape Myrtle, alligator lurching out of opaque-with-algae water, and chain-link fence.’”

Wendy Walker Silverman’s vibrant and buoyant approach adds the element of a collected narrative to Galerie Tangerine’s creative offerings, which evoke fresh art and promise a delicious flavor of events and exhibitions. Together, the art and space will bring forth new conversations about how we become inspired and what it means to carry that glow within ourselves.

Galerie Tangerine, which is free and open weekdays from 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM, is located at 900 South Street, Suite 104.