CBCA is proud to present Mind and Body, a solo exhibition of works on paper by Pauline Galiana. This exhibition features work from three of Galiana’s major series: Inside, Generation, and Shredded; each of which explores a distinct aspect of what makes us human in either mind or body. Through this survey of Galiana’s practice, we consider her nuanced expression of the point at which life transforms from something technical to something profound.

In each of these three series, Galiana emphasizes color and her active methods of production to interrogate and convey the point at which that element which makes us human intersects with either the mind or the body. In Inside Series, Galiana uses vivid colors and energetic brush strokes to create abstracted interpretations of anatomical medical imaging. She describes this process as, “breath[ing] life into the deconstructed living organisms with gestural and vibrant paint strokes and surfaces.” The resulting compositions are bright and playful, featuring organic shapes imbued with a natural movement by the artist’s hand. In doing so, Galiana vests a sense of life back into her subjects.
 
In her Generation Series, Galiana applies her broad, gestural brushstrokes, the use of bare fingers, and varied color pallets to create what she describes as “mental landscapes.” While the horizontal bands of dry pigment loosely evoke a horizon line, their inarticulate, abstracted form center the communication of color and movement over a landscape. By identifying these as mental landscapes her expressive bands of color seem to illustrate a train of thought or natural sequence of emotions as each color blends into the next. Again, through her lively method of creation and clear evidence of her own hand, Galiana insinuates movement and a sense of life into her pensive mental landscapes.
 
Finally, in her w Series Galiana employs gesture through the process of meticulously selecting, cutting, and assembling slivers of repurposed personal documents into grid-like circular sculptures. While Inside and Generation express a sense of livelihood through their vibrant colors and animated, gestural process of creation, here Galiana illustrates the human capacity for restraint and diligence. She explains that this, “intense meticulousness…ground[s] [the] work in the resilience of the human mind and its determination to patch, rebuild, and excavate from the entropy.” While her materials are in themselves literal evidence of a life lived, her detailed and laborious method of production further conveys the capacity of the human mind not just to feel but to rationalize and seek order. 
 
Throughout her practice Pauline Galiana instills her work with a sense of life and humanness. Using her own body and labor as an essential tool in the final piece, Galiana’s physically engaged methods of creation and spirited use of color spark a sense of intimacy, liveliness, and something essentially human in each piece as she explores the varied capacities of the mind and body.
 
Tessa Rosenstein
Exhibition Manager
Cynthia Byrnes Contemporary Art