Spinello Projects is pleased to present two solo exhibitions featuring the works of Clara Varas and Michelle Lisa Polissaint, a solo debut. In Interior/Exterior, Varas presents a body of work that exists and plays in a space between abstraction and representation, between painting and sculpture. In Finding Home, Polissaint she showcases two photographic series, Dancing with Myself and If Home was Home, both of which come from her exploration of personhood.

Interior/Exterior references both the self as well as physical space regarding the concept of home and the exploration of dwindling natural habitats. Landscapes in turmoil, strewn tropical foliage, remnants of dwellings and structure- there is a sense we are left with what comes after the tempest. Varas’ richly layered compositions tend to both resolve and dissolve. The painterly marks lend themselves to impressions of flora and fauna, or sometimes suggestions of interiors- which Varas emphasizes by the placement of certain household objects conjuring up our visual memory as though to say; something once stood here, and this is what was left behind. Essential to her practice is paint, and its physical properties. To Varas, a painting’s support structure is just as important as its composition, materiality just as important as subject matter.

In Finding Home, Polissaint intimately deals with creating her own space and self. The series Dancing with Myself, was produced after moving out of a strict, conservative home at the age of 19. The series exists in a point of confusion between adulthood on paper and true adulthood. Swaying within these spaces, Polissaint explores the self outside of nurturing environments. In the series, If Home was Home, Polissaint presents a suite of medium format images shot during her recent trips to Vieuxbourg d'Aquin, Haiti. Moving from understanding herself after leaving her parents’ home to addressing the relationship of the idyllic "home," Polissaint continues to investigate her identity, as a child of the African diaspora, born to Haitian immigrants.