February 23 – April 21, 2018
Paradigm Gallery + Studio is presenting Far from the Tree, a solo exhibition of new oil paintings by Katherine Fraser. Based on inspiration from fables, Fraser explores the idea of having control over our own destinies. Stories and endings that are known worldwide are given the ability to change. Each character is presented with the ability to alter their own outcomes.
Fraser grew up in rural Maine, so the landscape depicted in her work The War of Independence is a reference to the artist’s childhood – a symbol of a time when Fraser felt her most strong and independent. “When I use the rural landscape in my paintings, it symbolizes the homeland; I use it to create a feeling of peace and protection,” Fraser says. “I mostly paint solitary figures, and being alone in nature is the best kind of alone. In nature I feel most myself, vibrant, and at one with the world.”
Fraser is a classically trained painter who exclusively works with oil paint for its flexibility and luminosity. Her works draw attention to dynamic and conflicting emotions within individual characters. Fraser’s goal is to portray “our continual need to reckon expectations with truth, and the struggles we endure to feel satisfaction with our choices.”
