About the Show

Straight On Till Morning borrows its title from Peter & Wendy, the original telling of the Peter Pan story. ‘Second to the right, and straight on till morning’ is a navigational phrase delivered as guidance through the stars to the far away, magical land of Neverland. In this series of new paintings, observation, memory, and imagination blend to create sparkling landscapes drawn from the spring and summer seasons of New England’s woods and waters. These lushly-colored landscapes, occasionally populated with creatures, reflect a sublime experience of nature that verges into the magical or dream-like. Across the works, the sun and its partner, the moon, feature as central  motifs: as orienting figures that signal the surety of the passage of time reflected by natural cycles. The sun, or the morning light, transforms into a metaphor for a hopeful and guiding force. 

As a refrain exchanged between mentor and mentee in the studio, ‘straight on til morning’ became a short-hand for the rhythm, endurance, and grounding nature of a daily creative practice, an especially powerful activity when navigating difficult times.

About the Artist

Grace Hager (b.1993, Los Angeles) is an interdisciplinary painter and ceramic sculptor. She received a Master of Fine Arts in 2023 and Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting with a Minor in Art History in 2015, both from Maine College of Art & Design. Grace has exhibited throughout the United States, including at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Caldbeck Gallery, Institute of Contemporary Art, Portland, ME, Wassaic Project, MEPAINTSME, OVERLAP Gallery, CT State Gateway Community College, Pamplemousse Gallery, The Parsonage, and George Marshall Store Gallery, among others.

Images courtesy of Grace Hager and gracehager.com