A Closer Look at Daina Higgins

END OF SUMMER

Erika b Hess | Daina Higgins | Dion Johnson | Jignesh Panchal | Nikos Fyodor Rutkowski

Daina Higgins is featured in of the End of Summer group show September 3 – October 30. Higgins paints in a photo-realist style that showcases the American landscape as told by every day scenes such as a parked car and the emptiness of parking at night. So often these forgotten parts of our everyday vernacular hold much of our identity. Ivy Ridge at Night, 2020 and Toyota Corolla, 2020 give a glimpse into the most mundane aspects of life with such careful attention to our own reality that stops us in our tracks.

The Toyota Corolla is an iconic part of automobile history. Being known as the most reliable car through the ages its sheer presence and distinct color in this imagery creates an instantly recognizable nostalgic moment. Many versions of the Toyota Corolla exist on the road and parked in obscure places yet this particular car with its pop of blue against the muted midwestern skyline brings right to an immediate feeling of familiarity.

“Visually I fall in love like a thousand times a day. The real world has everything for me, I don’t even need to make anything up. Abstract artists have these feelings too, they just express it differently.”

-Daina Higgins

Ivy Ridge at Night, 2020 holds the most recognizable blurs of a far too familiar visit to what could be any shopping plaza in the United States. Some may find this familiarity frightening while others attach it to a feeling of dread. No matter the varying sensation it is forever a part of the American landscape.