David B. Smith Gallery is proud to present Chimera, the third solo exhibition of new works by San Diego-based artist Laura Ball.

Adeptly harnessing musings of the subconscious mind, Ball utilizes recognizable yet otherworldly imagery. Mythological creatures, swirling parrot wings, and fantastical flora join together and are pulled apart as their forms metamorphose, lending meaning to the title of the exhibition.

The Chimera, as known in ancient lore and modern science, is a beast that holds the genetic material of two separate entities. As described by Ball, “The creatures that crawl out of this mystic muck, the Chimeras, grow up from twisting masses of genetically different tissues, as mutations and irregularities grafted together from animals and plants, from good and evil, from life and death.” Meanwhile, dark chasms in the undulating figure-ground plane in Ball’s compositions allude to forces unseen.

Existing as both representational depiction of life and dreamlike reverie, duality and multitudinous truth underscore the works featured in Chimera. In her exceptionally detailed watercolors, Laura Ball’s skill and vision are immediately felt and understood by the viewer. Whether standing before two hulking tigers in the throes of savage battle, or following sage owls between our world and the underworld, the low groan of primordial jungles and the cries of life beginning and ending and beginning again ring in the distance of Ball’s channeled realities.