Submergence.

To displace one thing for another.

And so begins the exploration… momentous swirls of jetting squids, mesmerizing movements of paint on canvas, or an array of imaginary creatures; we are unsure but are tempted to follow these seemingly aimless shapes and gestures as they pivot and breathe.

I imagine my paintings being in a constant state of flux, I never feel that the image I end up with is this static thing. It just happened to be that in this suspended moment, it all coagulated just like this when I leave the room. I like to imagine that the painting continues to undulate dissolve and that the actual process that I went through just carries on.

(Darren Waterston)

The ocean wraps around our earth connecting one being to another. Lines drawn by us to segregate are invisible, yet our generous oceans continue to hold a wealth of answers for all.

What is beneath is often unknown; cities wash away, flights disappear, ancient galleons emerge from super storms, bones drift ashore, subway cars are dropped to build barrier reefs, the great gyres swirl, drifting, sinking, reemerging. These submerged “creatures” break down, fuse together, dissipate, only to resurface thousands of miles away.

Let us develop respect for all living things. Let us try to replace violence and intolerance with understanding and compassion. And love.

(Jane Goodall)

Callie Danae Hirsch is a queer American artist who lives in Brooklyn, New York. She works primarily in oils and acrylic on canvas and found objects. Hirsch graduated with a BFA in Photography from Parsons School of Design, an MA from New York University, and has exhibited in numerous exhibitions over the last forty-five years (if you count her first painting exhibit at a movie theatre at the age of 14). In 2008, she was awarded a commission from the NYC MTA, Arts & Design program to design a permanent installation at the 105 Beach Subway Station in Rockaway, Queens.

Galleries that have shown her work include Imago Galleries in Palm Desert, CA, the Pen and Brush, The Parrish Museum, and The Salmagundi Club in NYC. Internationally, she has been invited to exhibit in Bienniale Internazionale dell’Arte Contemporanea (Italy), Balatonfüred (Hungary), and Le Couvent (France). She has attended numerous artist residencies including in Ciudad Colón (Costa Rica), Balatonfüred (Hungary), and Auzits (France).

Publications featuring her work include Feminist studies journal (two features 2005 & 2020, the latter featuring her series “pandemic daydreams”). Most recently she has become an art and photography contributor to CAGIBI in both their print and online editions. Hirsch takes her cues from artists like Hilma af Klint, Miro, Klee, and the great activist Hundertwasser. They all share a robust engagement with the pulse of the natural world, converting that energy to visual abstraction through flow and order. Hirsch focuses on layering the narrative order of visual information to provide a prolonged experience for the viewer. Some of the experiences might include references to dance, intertwining species, fauna, topography, cartography, filmstrips and ecosystems. Other times her work engages only on the surface with the focus of a highly detailed veneer, pure pattern and visual wealth.