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Aug 25, 2023

Tana Rey: Art in Public Places at the Poinciana Library

Spoken Spirit, a series of abstract acrylic and pastel paintings by Orlando

Spoken Spirit, a series of abstract acrylic and pastel paintings by Orlando artist Tana Rey, is on display at the Poinciana Library through June 30. These eight recently painted pieces represent a big shift in Rey's painting approach, the crux of which is paint with optimism instead of pessimism.

The Spoken Spirit series, part of the Osceola County Art in Public Places program, has a commanding position in the library, viewable from many points including many comfortable chairs. The paintings are medium in size ranging from two to four feet.

Rey says she identifies emotionally with her art: the art and the artist cannot be separated. Prior to painting the Spoken Spirit series, she was getting uncomfortable with how the emotional angst of life's hard knocks influenced her art. Wanting to reverse this trend for the series, she flipped her emotion and color scheme from pessimistic to optimistic, from dark to light. Looking for change and inspiration, Rey has painted change and inspiration into these Spoken Spirit paintings.

While optimism was Rey's overriding goal in the series, she also pays tribute to some of her favorite artists: Vincent Van Gogh, Frida Kahlo and Keith Haring. Each Spoken Spirit descriptive placard gives a quote from one of the artists who provided inspiration for the respective painting. One painting, Herring (red shade), includes a Keith Haring quote: "...Just live. Just live until I die." Rey uses quotes found in books to point to a library's importance in society — especially fitting since the works are exhibited in a library.

The paintings attract the eye like a swimming pool on a hot day, each one with a light aqua background and a shared pallet of pastel colors. They pop forward against the library's darker blue wall space. Patches of warm browns and peach give stability in swirly universes full of exuberant gestural lines of blue, lavender, and white. Splatters, drips, floral motifs, and layers of color create depth in the paintings. Rey's Spoken Spirit paintings are lyrical, light, energetic, optimistic paintings, each one with it's own story to tell.

Another story can be told, though not as obvious to a viewer — the struggle of the artist to not only break old habits, but create something new based on a feeling. To stand in front of a blank canvas and paint an idea you have never painted. This series is also the story of Rey's selfdiscovery journey through painting.

One painting, "Guardian Philosophy", doesn't include a famous artist quote. It quotes another artist. "Anyone can become an Artist — you just have to be brave enough to call yourself one first."

The artist? Tana Rey.