'Caesura'
KERRI AMMIRATA
Caesura
Chautauqua Institution School of Art
June 25 - July 18, 2026
‘It comes to nothing, really, hardly
a moment on earth.
Not a sentence, but a breath, a caesura.’
-Labor Day by Louise Glück
My works look skyward, using celestial forms to ground emotional states. I render cosmic bodies such as suns, moons, and planets as meditative fields of color and gesture that invite the viewer into an intimate, spiritual cosmos.
In October 2024, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. My whole world flipped upside down. Created after the completion of active treatment, this work investigates the transformation of my identity. It reflects the tension between the person I was before and the person I became after. As a result of ongoing treatment, I had to change the process of making physically demanding work. I adapted my studio to accommodate a different body and took up oil paint for the first time in years.
In A Long View for a Time and The Stars Are Impatient, I explore the split that follows a life-altering experience. Built through layers of acrylic and oil paint, applied with brushes, sticks, metal tools, and other implements, the works are repeatedly scraped back and reworked. Sweeping gray and black arcs reference the river Styx, dividing the space and partially obscuring forms to reveal and conceal aspects of the inner self.
In Albedo and Spiritual Energy, a renewed sense of momentum emerges. After many years, the triangle returns to my work as a symbol of strength and stability. Radiating outward from the centers of celestial forms, mandala-like marks evoke energy gathering, forming, and expanding outward. Inspired by my fascination with the Artemis II mission, the title Albedo refers to the light reflected by a celestial body.
The last painting created, Something Inbetween, represents a coming together of my identities. Interlocking large brushstrokes, converging triangular forms, and layered passages of deep violet, blue, and black create a space where opposing forces meet rather than compete. A luminous center emerges from the intersection of these forms, suggesting a point of balance and integration. This is not a resolution, rather an ongoing negotiation. It is a coalescence, a place where both identities can exist at once.
*This exhibition is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.*