Canna Lily Series #1, 40×40″,Oil on canvas, 2016
Show Date: 2/11/2017 – 4/1/2017
2nd Saturday Reception: February 11 & March 11, 2017, 6 – 8:30 PM
In a Canna Lilies series of eight oil paintings, Shimo seeks to portray their inner strength. Each painting functions like a portrait of a single bloom set against a solid color background, representing the mood at the time of painting: uneasy red, brooding black, tranquil white. The blooms are something different, moments of thought frozen in time. Explosions, each flower has a personality, one is lilting, others vibrant, another is haughty or enigmatic. Each is painted with a thick, opaque pigment like the frosting on a Wayne Thiebaud cake. But the candy-like surface is just a lure; a flower in the wild must be able to attract its pollinators, and Shimo wants his painted flowers to appeal to a mass audience.
