Artwork Description
In Passing Through, Kristen McClarty captures one of those fleeting moments familiar to anyone who spends time in the ocean. Looking down through shifting water, the swimmer appears and disappears beneath the surface, her form distorted by light, movement and the constantly changing patterns created by the sea.
Part of McClarty's ongoing exploration of swimming and immersion, the work is based on her own experience in the water. Rather than describing a swimmer from the shore, she places the viewer within the scene itself, looking through layers of current and reflection. Broad sweeps of turquoise, white and deep blue suggest the movement of water, while flashes of warm coral reveal the figure beneath.
Created as a unique oil monotype on Fabriano Tiepolo paper, Passing Through sits somewhere between abstraction and observation. The image is less about a portrait of a swimmer than the sensation of being submerged — that feeling of weightlessness, quiet and connection that keeps drawing us back to the water.
