Paula Wilson: Toward the Sky’s Back Door

Paula Wilson: Toward the Sky’s Back Door breaks down perceived boundaries to connect global and local narratives through subjects as wide-ranging as the moth that pollinates Yucca plants, ancient Greek vases, West African D’mba, and modern technologies. The exhibition presents paintings, prints, collages, and videos—with different media frequently intermixed in a single work, including new monumental figures being shown for the first time. Using the same techniques and styles to make art for viewing on the gallery wall as for the rugs she walks on and clothes she wears, Wilson challenges the separations between art and everyday living. Often biographically oriented, her work investigates the polarities of human life, including her own identity as a biracial woman and her experiences living in both major metropolises and the small desert railroad town of Carrizozo, New Mexico.