Aliza Morell
There are three nail salons between my apartment and the train.
I notice them mostly at night, when their neons glow in darkened
windows. The signs seem disconnected from the brightly lit,
acetone-scented shops they represent, like secret emblems
blazing at all the passersby, or frozen roses reaching toward an
empty street. My recent paintings pick up here, inventing new
signs to mark the way.
As in all of my work, color drives this series. Point of view and
the picture plane are key too. Flowers rain just behind the surface
while hands reach in and out. Discarded bouquets radiate at the
viewer’s feet. I hope that people find their own connections to this
work, as I have done with the signs that inspired it. For me, the
ultimate romance pictured here is with painting itself.