SEFA Hudson is pleased to announce a solo exhibition of new paintings by Josie Tolliver Shaw entitled Cherry. The presentation will feature seven recent paintings, acrylic on canvas, including large-scale works such as Allegedly Lucky Candle, which stretches over six feet tall. Tolliver Shaw’s thoughtful renderings depict her interpretations of the female figures and social interactions that center her life. The paintings can be read initially as portraits, yet they are further layered with objects and words in the abstracted backgrounds, which are rich with kitsch and ephemera. The symbols within–notably the cherry–endow the artist’s subjects with stories: both anecdotes of their collective experiences and nuances of their inner lives.

In the words of Tolliver Shaw: “I piece together photos of friends, road trip souvenirs, and altars on bedroom window sills to create an idealized matriarchal world…I juxtapose their sense of security with palpable intimacy and vulnerability within the painted scene…My paintings suggest that souvenirs and keepsakes are more than mere byproducts of capitalism. Instead, these objects tap into the human instinct to connect with and memorialize our experiences.”