For The Armory Show 2020, Daniel Faria Gallery is pleased to present a solo booth of new works by Kristine Moran. 

Four years ago, Moran took up swimming as a daily ritual and it soon became subject matter in her work as well. The “Mad Cap Swimmers” paintings contend with the sensations, rhythms and mental states experienced during long intervals spent swimming across large bodies of water. It is no coincidence that at this time, Moran left New York and embarked on a yearlong road-trip across the country. Endurance, duration and the notion of the journey are key themes in her work. 

The daily practices of swimming and painting are intrinsically linked: the repetitive motion and perfection of the stroke; the concentration; the meditation. Recently, Moran’s thoughts have turned to the human will to push through adversity – the desire to survive. Because stillness is equated with sinking, being in the water offers an opportunity to confront one’s own mortality. One must keep moving. Keep repeating those strokes. Keep breathing. 

Formally, Moran’s new paintings are a nod to Frank Stella’s Protractor series from the late ‘60s, where the goal is not to make one dramatic or signature shape but rather a series of simple, seemingly interchangeable units that are part of an ongoing process of building. However, while Stella has been known to say of his work, “what you see is what you see,” Moran’s work is imbued with narration, figuration and subjectivity.

The “Mad Cap Swimmers” are women, but more importantly, they are a group of women. They are the joining of forces that together are stronger than the sum of their parts. The water begins to rise and the swimmers are ready. They have been training for the challenge ahead. Their goal is an unknown place: an ambiguous landscape that is in view but just out of reach.