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Ephemeral Atmosphere · 2020
Migration
Layers of Movement and Displacement
Available · in the studio, Phoenix
The atmospheric record of mass movement — layers of displacement held in a surface that doesn't say where anyone was going.
Migration (2020) is part of both my Ephemeral Atmosphere Collection and my experiments with Epoxy on Acrylic, where I explore movement not as a fixed path, but as layered, disorienting flows of energy and form. This 48 x 48 inch mixed media painting captures the chaotic beauty of departure, drift, and arrival — or perhaps, the impossibility of ever fully arriving.
The painting is built on translucent pours of acrylic, sealed beneath layers of glossy epoxy that create a watery, suspended surface. Forms resembling fragments, trails, and blurred territories drift across the field, evoking both natural migrations and psychological displacements. The work feels restless, resisting fixed borders or narratives.
In this exploration, I found resonance with Mark Bradford, whose layered abstractions excavate urban maps and personal histories, revealing the tensions beneath the surface. Like Bradford, I am drawn to the marks, scars, and traces left by bodies in motion — not clean, linear journeys, but fragmented, overlapping migrations that hold memory, trauma, and hope.
Migration is a meditation on the spaces in-between — between one place and another, one identity and another, one story and the next. The painting does not offer resolution; it offers a space to feel the weight and fluidity of movement itself.
As part of the Ephemeral Atmosphere Collection, Migration captures the atmosphere of displacement, the emotional residue of crossing thresholds, and the layered histories carried within us as we move through — or away from — spaces.
Where to see it. In person at RituStudio, Phoenix, by appointment. Represented by Jarrow & Goodman, Los Angeles.
The space it needs
- Wall
- At least 5 ft wide
- Ceiling
- 8 ft or more
- Light
- Natural light transforms this work — morning and evening light read differently
- Daylight
- Prussian blue holds steady while oxblood and rust warm under western sun. Contrast is strong enough for a bright room, and an east or north wall keeps the layers of displacement in balance.
Lives best in
Living room 5/5
Migration earns a 5 here because its Prussian blue and oxblood layers reward the sustained, unhurried looking that only a living room allows, and the 4-by-4-foot canvas fills a sofa wall without overwhelming the human scale of the room.
Bedroom 4/5
The score is 4 because longing and the deep madder undertones suit the private hours, but the work demands enough attention that it should hang opposite the bed rather than directly above it, where its emotional weight becomes too present at rest.
Details
- Size
- 4 × 4 ft (W × H)
- Medium
- Acrylic on canvas
- Finish
- Epoxy over acrylic. The resin lifts the color off the canvas and holds it forward, so the surface deepens as the light moves across the room.
- Year
- 2020
- Collection
- Ephemeral Atmosphere
- Palette
- Prussian Blue · Oxblood · Rust · Deep Madder · Muted White
- Weight
- About 22 lb
- Ready
- In the studio; delivery 6–10 weeks
Its ArtGram
ArtGram.Fork
- Texture1
- Form2
- Colour range3
- Palette4.2
- Contrast4.1
- Abstraction Quotient-1
