High Tide 2020

Curator: Let’s turn our attention to Kayla Mahaffey’s “High Tide” created in 2020 using acrylic paint. Editor: There's a feeling of both vulnerability and playful defiance in this piece. The colors are vivid, but the girl's expression carries a certain weight, like she's facing something monumental. Curator: Absolutely, it's worth thinking about Mahaffey’s engagement with materiality and image making in popular surrealism. The surface application of acrylic creates distinct layers and a tactile sensation despite its ultimately flat two-dimensionality, juxtaposed by her adoption of common, accessible cartoon symbols like the safety buoy that many readily identify with cartoons and animated films. It creates a dialogue about art making for everyone, from raw materials to final, widely viewed product. Editor: And the symbology! The large, red gummy fish could represent childhood's simple pleasures, yet it also might reference ideas about larger consumption—literally and culturally speaking—which makes you question the narrative presented by her forlorn gaze and by the life preserver as well. The work overall sparks an intriguing dialogue between innocence and an understanding of how constructed and complicated modern reality really is. Curator: Yes! The way Mahaffey utilizes materials and recognizable images underscores broader social critiques. Looking closely, we see how she merges mass production with personal experience by questioning the making and unmaking of popular characters in this pop surrealism that plays off mass accessibility. Editor: Indeed, a painting like this seems to capture a shared anxiety about the future while simultaneously acknowledging and celebrating the strength and wisdom inherent in youthful awareness, reminding us how images create meaning through collective cultural memory. Curator: Well put. I find the blending of surrealism with realism interesting here when observing labor that creates popular products versus labor that comments on it through painting. Editor: I agree; considering how both methods employ various tools and accessible, basic ingredients or concepts to realize a distinct product is an interesting comparison to keep in mind when exiting the gallery. Curator: Absolutely, thank you.