Marina AdamsIn the Garden of My Memory

In the Garden of My Memory features eleven large-scale acrylic and watercolor paintings and four scroll intaglio monoprints on paper inspired by Chinese folded books.

Poetry is a crucial component of Adams’s artistic practice, intertwining language and painting, opening a pathway through its ineffable sensory experience. In the Garden of My Memory is derived from Ted Berrigan’s poem Tambourine Life. Perhaps this phrase struck Adams in her studio on a summer afternoon and leapt off the page. Here, it functions as a cryptic invitation, inviting viewers to journey through the artist’s vibrant realm of memories constructed through colors. Like poetry, Adams’s artworks don’t provide specific imagery or narratives, yet they vividly convey her perspectives and contemplation of the world. Impressions drawn from nature, music, fabrics, architecture, and literature are transformed into dynamic colors, humming with the physical resonance of individual existence through the canvas as if its structure were a kind of grammar, and light and shadow serve as its tones. These pieces traverse the boundaries of diverse logical fields, directly reaching the channels of individual senses.

Adams’s creations should be understood as abstract expressionism within the realm of color field painting. On the one hand, she follows the tradition of color field painting, emphasizing the ontological superiority of overall form and color in the painting, thereby discarding the once-prominent symbols and rhetoric. On the other hand, distinct from the typical serenity and meticulousness of color field paintings, she consistently infuses her colors with spiritual energy, imbuing her paintings with vitality. They undoubtedly emanate from the artist’s bodily rhythm, interpreted into live abstractions through brushes and pigments.

Images courtesy Longlati Foundation, Shanghai.