Golden Rope by Serena Aurora Day Himmelfarb

Girl in the Galaxy by Serena Aurora Day Himmelfarb

Double Up Intentions by Serena Aurora Day Himmelfarb

Each piece in this series employs a different medium—mixed media, a silkscreen on a monotype, and acrylic with ink. They come from a found photograph of a woman in a tree, and it isn’t clear what her intentions are, or her agency in the situation. I enjoy the ambiguity in this situation. Sometimes our context can make us feel ways that we would otherwise not feel, changing our perspective, like the different ways I’ve rendered this woman’s environment change what we think she may be experiencing. I like to imagine what the woman is feeling, and because the other side of the tree is her own world, what she is seeing, too. I would say that these images relate to mental pain and health, to escaping from it or the possibilities of something new in the future.

Serena Aurora Day Himmelfarb (They/Them) is a visiting assistant professor at Hampshire College. They hold an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts, Post-Bacc Certificate from the School of the Art Institute, Chicago, and a BA from Hampshire College. Originally from Chicago, Serena is currently based out of Los Angeles. Their studio practice blends traditional methods of direct observation and more idiosyncratic processes based in post-studio methodologies. They are rooted in queer, feminist, and reproductive justice frameworks, whether geopolitical, ecological, interpersonal, or internal. Serena has recently shown at JOAN gallery, The Annenberg Beach House and Western Exhibitions. They have been included in Printed Matter’s LA Book Fair and Other Places Art Fair. In 2018, they received a Research & Practice fellowship to study pedagogy in the arts.