Opening Friday September 28th, a solo exhibition of Hilary White‘s artwork will be shown at Paradigm Gallery + Studio in Philadelphia.  The artist’s exploration of the Biblical imagination, wonder and discovery continues with Seeing Impossible Color.  White, a Gainesville, Florida resident, teaches art classes to underprivileged youth in her community.  Her foundation, Made New Arts, began as a partnership with a local foster care shelter.  As White’s awareness of the need for creative expression among these children grew, she branched out into teaching in juvenile detention facilities as well.  This work is both enriching and challenging.  The heartbreak that comes with caring for these kids has led White to continually connect to her faith.  “Practicing faith is kind of like trying to see an impossible color,” she says.  In these moments, when a person faces a struggle and turns to their beliefs “hope enables us to see impossible things.”

The title of the exhibition comes from White’s own deep interest in science, and her curiosity about the limits of human perception and spirituality.  She encountered research about the spectrums of color that the human eye simply cannot perceive.  Despite our inability to see the complete vastness of light frequencies, they are present.  In the context of Seeing Impossible Color, when we metaphorically struggle to see the light in a dark place, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t there.  When the artist wonders whether one of her students will ever be free from sorrows in their life, or she feels that a day in the art room was unsuccessful, she chooses to have hope.

Our efforts may seem futile at times, but beyond our perception something powerful could be taking place.  This is the impossible color that is tied to having faith.  Seeing Impossible Color is the embodiment of the embrace of the unseen.  It is an expression of the struggles of living by faith and a celebration of what is taking place beyond human perception.

Seeing Impossible Color

Paradigms Gallery + Studio
746 S. 4th Street
Philadelphia

September 28 – October 20, 2018

OPENING RECEPTION
September 28, 2018 • 5:30 – 10:00pm