Splish! Splash!

bas-relief paintings by
Judith White

through April 29, 2005

Joseph P. Bort MetroCenter
third floor
101 Eighth Street, Oakland
(at the Lake Merritt BART Station)
510.817.5700

Open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays

Artist’s Statement

Water! You can drink it! You can soak in it! You can play in it!

Watery places — pools, spas and oceans — attract me. I love the water and the aquatic scene. Everything seems looser there, people more childlike and movement dreamier than on land. Swimmers’ fanciful garb adds to the fun; colors are bright and silly. And, then, water draws everything together and puts all into motion: Currents swirl, bubbles and spray dance and enliven the scene.

Most of my images come from people and places that I have seen in the past year or so: swimmers at the YMCA, fishermen on the Berkeley Pier, friends floating in a backyard pool, snorkelers and surfers playing in Hawaii…

I want my pieces to feel like watery places, slippery and shiny with forms distorted by layers of currents. I want them to have the playful feeling of a day at the beach, and the silliness of playing in water, spurting, spouting and splashing.

— Judith White