Thais Mather: Shineth in Darkness

“Flowers are sweet. They have short, beatific lives. They offer much pleasure. There is nothing in the world that can be said against them. These lines from Mary Oliver’s poem “I Know Someone” catalyzed Thais Mather’s upcoming show at Hecho Gallery, Shineth in Darkness. The show consists of watercolor paintings of bouquets, each dedicated to a female poet whose work has informed Mather’s visual practice, including Mary Oliver, Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, and Gwendolyn Brooks. To Mather, these women exemplify the ability to value their own work enough to carve out time and space for it, even when it came at the expense of conventionally dictated priorities.