A series of paintings form a mosaic-like ensemble in Gabby Prado’s “Weaving Light with Glass.” Narratives drawn from the artist’s ruminations build on her relationships, particularly with her tight-knit family. The exhibition looks into sentiments embedded within the self and, by extension, to others. Prado’s approach to abstraction has always been linked to her desire to express her inner being as she continuously attempts to navigate the world more independently. This yearning is seen through Prado’s new works as transparency dominates the layers and layers of colors that represent aspects of herself and her ties with people.
The exhibition displays photographs of landscapes, domestic scenes, and moments shared by the artist and her family: tender memories from her childhood days, views of the sea, and seeing the people she loves captured from an angle of care. They become references in how Prado applies movement and gesture on the canvas. Fragments of shape and form merge and overlap in some areas of the composition and struggle to be at the forefront. There exists the need to be comfortable alone and, at the same time, embrace the state of togetherness. The paintings tell of the artist’s ability to begin living a life influenced by her loved ones and yet becoming more liberated from the baggage of collective pursuits.
Prado reflects on this new sense of individuality, “washing casting shades of cadmium red, grayish blue, and pink before dissolving into deep Prussian blues, violets, and gray(s). It made me realize that reminding myself I am one of them.” The organizing and reorganizing of these shades are akin to going back and forth to relive years of experiences to understand ourselves better. The repetitive marking in Prado’s body of works appeals to this act of recollection as she traces days and years, places and sites that signal something more than coming of age. More defining strokes and lines intersect with the clear-cut articulation of space as if the artist reminds us, “This is me, and this is us.” Some parts seem diffused within these specks of colors as they softly coalesce. While the collection looks deep into the internalization of personal relationships, Prado sets it out as her billet to the world. To weave light with glass is to hold an invisible mirror and examine all that it reflects— ourselves at the center and the rest that emerges from the peripheries.
Curated by Gwen Bautista
