Descending into Escapism Series 1: Vaydra Wright

May 22 - June 12, 2018

Vaydra Wright’s digital collages utilize layers of color and pattern to create surreal compositions. Created as coping strategies, these works are visual documents of the sensations the artist feels during periods of dissociation, a psychological condition in which one detaches from reality in response to traumatic events and triggering stimuli. The spiraling, inverted, kaleidoscopic works often function as Rorschach tests and represent the psychological repercussion of trauma through digitally manipulated abstractions. Working in complete isolation and without formal training, Vaydra’s works are entirely personal depictions of her unique experiences. In Adagio Tempo, we see an intricate pattern of whirling colorful lines. At once soothing and mystifying, the work reveals a complex maze of emotions as colors bleed into one another like the artist’s shifting moods. In Reflection of My Stolen Childhood, what look like red and yellow caves sit at the edge of a milky bay, drawing the viewer into its abstract web. Personal and private, the work hints at the artist’s raw emotional state as she tries to make sense of and communicate what’s happening in her mind.