On display until October 17, 2026, at the Bermuda National Gallery (BNG), “Offerings” presents the work of California-based Bermudian artist Soleé Darrell. “The kaleidoscopic works embrace the power of stillness and remind us of our sense of inter-connection— to nature, to a power greater than self, and to each other.” Read the full description below.
Description: For California-based Bermudian artist Soleé Darrell, painting is a way of being fully present in the moment. It is a ritual process that begins with colour, which she selects intuitively, working within a single colour palette over the course of a week.
Whilst Darrell’s large-scale abstract works appear at first glance to be on canvas, they are in fact stretched silk velvet. Rather than paint she uses powdered pigment dye, which she will sprinkle, or sometimes mix with water and pour directly onto the surface in much the same way that abstract expressionist Helen Frankenthaler poured paint thinned with turpentine onto a raw canvas. She uses both brushes and her hands; it is an organic and highly tactile process.
Colour is at the heart of her work, much of it reminiscent of the bold shades that pepper Bermuda. She references “the ocean, being surrounded by blue and everything being so bright,” of the way that memories of home infuse her work. “There’s not a single wasted colour on the island,” she says. The nature of the pigment means that it dries quickly, and Darrell has only 30 minutes to complete each painting. Speed is both part of the process and part of what grounds her. The colours change as they dry. “I don’t know what I’m going to get, and it happens really fast which means that I’m very present,” she explains.
Artmaking is, for Darrell, as much a sacred practice as it is a creative one. Offerings invites the viewer to join her in meditation and reflection. The kaleidoscopic works embrace the power of stillness and remind us of our sense of interconnection – to nature, to a power greater than self, and to each other – further enhanced by the titles which are, much like the artworks themselves, both poignant and poetic.
For more information, see https://bng.bm/exhibition/offerings/
For more on the artist, see https://www.soleedarrell.com/