Sojourner Truth Parsons Accident, 2021

Luminous colors in two sections set in an otherwise almost completely black field recall the framing devices characteristic of Sojourner Truth Parson' composition from this period where rectangular passages can be understood as windows or imaginary views. Reversing the viewers expectations, one might imagine looking out from a darkened space, even as the subtle presence of painted flowers suggest otherwise.

Parsons' paintings hover at the threshold of abstraction and representation, swinging back and forth as recognizable shapes such as flowers, city blocks or landscapes never fully settle in one register or the other. Sometimes the association with the outside world is anchored simply by a luminous round disc—sun or moon—that lets the painting shift at the blink of an eye.

Composed from overlapping elements—layers of paint alternate with thin washes, matt surfaces with slightly glossier and iridescent passages—the artist’s iconography constructs an interior environment, more psychic landscape than true-to-life depiction, embodying emotional truth.