Elixir in a Dry Land: La Tierra Sedienta

"This valley floor of rich granitic soil was formed by thousands of years of outflow from the same rivers now used indirectly for irrigation. Food grows where water flows."  — Lucinda Parker

The five paintings that Lucinda Parker created for the U.S. Courthouse in Bakersfield, California, are about water: wild water, transported water, engineered water, pumped water, and irrigated water. These paintings are Parker's response to Mill Creek, which flows through the park just west of the courthouse, and to the mysterious and inventive systems of water throughout the arid west. In these paintings, Parker shows her love of the expressive gestures and strong shapes that inform both her abstract and landscape compositions. For Parker, the materiality of paint mimics the fluidity of water, with its drips and rhythmic energy.