{"id":3976,"date":"2025-09-21T15:26:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-21T15:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dartmagazine.com\/?p=3976"},"modified":"2025-09-21T15:26:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T15:26:09","slug":"maya-perry-wanting-to-get-out-of-bed-and-run-like-a-wolf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dartmagazine.com\/?p=3976","title":{"rendered":"Maya Perry: Wanting to Get Out of Bed and Run Like a Wolf"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Chunbum Park<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Installation
Installation view of Maya Perry\u2019s The Moon Takes Shape of an Outsider’s Light<\/strong> at RAINRAIN<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Maya Perry\u2019s solo exhibition at RAINRAIN, \u201cThe Moon Takes Shape of an Outsider’s Light,\u201d is a transformation and trans-configuration of the artist\u2019s hidden psyche as her animal spirit, the brave wolf. The show engages the viewers as if they are reading a story book with pictures. The pictures are carefully put together in a lyrical fashion, as if the artist thought about the choice of words (or imagery) for an extended period of time. The images never fully furnish the audience with straight-forward answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is Perry a brave wolf? Are we brave as wolves, or are we timid and submissive like dogs? The works in the show throw the question out there – whether both the audience and the artist have the guts and the strength to take on the role of vulnerability that exploring the question fully entails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the distinction between a wolf and a dog? How can the artist provide markers identifying the differences between the untamed voice of the wild and the domesticated pet?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Maya
Maya Perry – The rhythm of the heart that runs<\/strong> (2025), watercolor on paper, child’s bed, 24.5 x 53 x 29.5 inches (62.23 x 134.62 x 74.93 cm)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Looking at works such as, \u201cThe rhythm of the heart that runs\u201d (2025), we see the artist begin the inquiry from the reclining position of weakness, on the bed. The sculptural installation piece consists of a wooden crib for babies with a running wolf and a dead pigeon juxtaposed with one over the other, flanked by large paper cutouts representing moths (or perhaps butterflies).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This central motif of the bed is an important part of the artist\u2019s conversation with the self and the world. Feeling weakness and defeat, perhaps in the studio, the artist becomes contained in bed. While lying down, the artist becomes a dreamer who hopes to run in the wild triumphantly and freely like the wolves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The decision\u2026 to become a wolf or a dog\u2026 is akin to the same set of decisions made on the picture plane of the canvas with a brush and paint. What makes a painting truly brave? What leads to a successful painting without compromises and driven by tenacity? What makes a strong painter?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without masquerading as the wolf, Perry becomes the wolf\u2026 by the pure act of throwing the question out there for everyone to see and observe. What is a predator? What is prey?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two are inextricably intertwined because the predator pretends to be the superior part of the equation in relation to the prey, but, to be the predator, one must become the prey by acknowledging the weaknesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The yin and yang of the universe are interconnected and cannot be separated from one another. Without the shadow, there is no light. And dark colors absorb more light internally, while bright colors absorb less light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The artist narrates her journey of growth and transformation while in bed and dreaming of the other possibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The difference between a wolf and a dog is akin to the question of what is authentic painting and what is illustrational in opposition to painting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or rather, the artist questions this hierarchy that believes painting to be superior to illustration, and asks if she is the dog and not the brave wolf because her painting style is semi-illustrational in nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this moment, the power relations flip, and the artist reverses the superiority of painting into a more egalitarian philosophy in which painting sits as one of many different modes of expression. Perhaps the belief that we all had placed in painting was misguided. What is painting? What is illustration? And why must they be in opposition to one another? Within this world view, Perry\u2019s painting is reborn as a hybrid style that borrows from both modern painting and contemporary illustrational styles and motifs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Maya
Maya Perry – Out in the distance there is a howl that breaks all doors<\/strong> (2025), watercolor on paper, 58 x 48 inches (147.3 x 121.9 cm)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When we take observance of works such as \u201cOut in the distance there is a howl that breaks all doors\u201d (2025), we cannot be so sure if the depiction of a wolf can be considered traditional painting or illustration. Most likely, this question is moot and outdated, since artists are required to push the boundaries for their field, similar to scientists or engineers. Why must we think in the same way and expect the same results, fixing ourselves to preconceived notions? In this work, the illustrational need or desire to push the colors and forms into greater definition, away from an ambiguous state (which permits greater depths for open interpretation), is repeatedly interrupted. Perry instead breaks up the high level of detail and \u201cperfection\u201d with a touch of painterly strokes and colors. It is as if pop culture entered the vocabulary of fine art through pop art. It is as if matters of illustration and animation entered the collective psyche of the world, so that it would no longer make sense to produce paintings purely in the traditional sense\u2026 to capture the essence of the subject. Perhaps the surface is the subject, and the core was not as important as we had thought it was. Or perhaps the core can be contained within the surface. Perhaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perry\u2019s painting does not sit entirely on the surface. While appearing to be essentially illustrational at first glance, her work involves all the nuances of a painterly painting. The looseness of the strokes and the act of letting go (of control) in order to gain another voice (possibly a deeper grasp of the unknown or thought arising from ambiguity and abstraction) all point to Perry\u2019s strong background in painting. Perry\u2019s work is hybrid in nature, so it is difficult to call it purely one thing or the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Maya
Maya Perry – The hybrid between a wolf, dog and human<\/strong> (2025)
Watercolor on paper and oil on glass, stop-motion animation, 3 min 4 sec<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In Perry\u2019s \u201cThe hybrid between a wolf, dog and human\u201d (2025), which is a stop-motion animation utilizing oil paint and watercolor, we see the final logic of Perry\u2019s train of thought and visual exploration. A painting that moves. A painting that changes in sequence over time. A painting with many layers that can be experienced as a moving memory and not a frozen fragment of it, frozen in time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perry becomes the underdog in order to become the wolf in the end. Here we are reminded of a song by Cloud Cult, \u201cNo Hell,\u201d which goes, \u201cI saw your soul without the skin attached, and you\u2019ve got the guts of a coyote pack.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Painting is a continual struggle with the self. To be or not to be, that is the question. To be the wolf, to be a strong painter, requires honesty with one\u2019s own vulnerability, sensitivity, and imperfections. Power, excellence, and success on the canvas are not so straightforward. To gain power, one must let go of power. To be excellent, one must struggle. To succeed, one must exercise the right to fail. To be a strong painter, one must be aware of one\u2019s own weaknesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perry\u2019s painting is informed by a hybrid language that excavates deeper meaning from the surface, like enjoying cakes dug from the peel of an orange, but imagine that the peel has all the savory juice and nutrients (and the seed is inedible). This is the trans-configuration of painting, which applies painterly language to its forms based on an ultra modern, illustrational style and motif, without becoming purely an illustration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the fine line that Perry chooses to walk in order to push the boundaries of the field, and this is the line that makes or breaks Perry\u2019s painting, each a battle that she will engage with to grow and get stronger. This line is a place of new birth (as a young wolf) between what has been considered a dog and an old wolf, between illustration and old modes of painting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maya Perry: The Moon Takes Shape of an Outsider’s Light<\/strong>, September 3\u2014October 11, 2025 at RAINRAIN, 110 Lafayette Street, Suite 201, New York NY 10013<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Chunbum Park Maya Perry\u2019s solo exhibition at RAINRAIN, \u201cThe Moon Takes Shape of an Outsider’s Light,\u201d is a transformation and trans-configuration of the artist\u2019s hidden psyche as her animal spirit, the brave wolf. The show engages the viewers as if they are reading a story book with pictures. The pictures are carefully put together … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Maya Perry: Wanting to Get Out of Bed and Run Like a Wolf”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3976"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dartmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3976\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4004,"href":"https:\/\/dartmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3976\/revisions\/4004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}