During the month of March, Traver Gallery in Seattle is featuring eighteen new paintings by Tori Karpenko. This body of work picks up where the artist left off from his last show – ‘The Lookout’ – and takes the viewer deeper in to the North Cascades wilderness. With a slightly more lucid take on unique colors and dynamic textures found through mountain solace, these paintings explore moments of inspiration, discovery and renewal. ‘Inside the Liminal’ will resonate with anyone who has found peace or a fresh perspective in the mountains. More specifically for the artist, the word ‘liminal’ encapsulates an evanescent and fluid state of mind found in the rituals of mountain solitude and a dedicated studio practice:

“Liminality may perhaps be regarded…as a realm of pure possibility whence novel configurations of ideas and relations may arise” – Victor Turner

“The symbiosis of studio and sojourn creates a profound conversation between raw experience and deeper contemplation as I bring elements of wild space to life in a painting. I am exploring the concept of liminality as a blurry boundary between worlds, through images such as the shape-shifting fox, shadows, reflections on water, bridges, transitional moments between seasons, death/rebirth, and the eclipse,” saysKarpenko.

“While these transitory situations can include periods of uncertainty, anguish, or even the existential fear of facing the abyss in void, they can also serve as a path towards renewal. In a liminal space, attachments to one world or the other blur and dissolve, and in the midst of that disorientation there is a heightened possibility for new perspectives. At times when I feel overwhelmed by the pieces of my life not fitting together, a liminal space can create a temporarily fluid and malleable perspective on life, opening possibilities to deconstruct old ideas and attachments. To quote Jung, “What takes place in the dark phase of liminality is a process of breaking down…in the interest of ‘making whole’ one’s meaning, purpose, and sense of relatedness once more.”

DATE: Opening night, . The show runs until March 31^st and can be viewed Tuesday – Saturday from 10-5pm. Images of the work can be found at www.travergallery.com CONTACT: Tori Karpenko, torikarpenko@yahoo.com