Linda Davidson

A A A Comments By Christina Twu Wednesday, Oct 19 2005

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In life's details, we search for pattern and meaning, but we often fail to construe them precisely. Like the moments we ponder and fail to sew together seamlessly to form one epic picture, Linda Davidson's Daydream evokes the disconnected thoughts and nostalgia that often result from daydreaming. From right to left, 526 6-by-6-inch canvases depict everything from personal history (puffy, white, carved clouds recalling day-care days) to art history (an interesting juxtaposition of Renaissance-era romance, Jackson Pollock lines, and numerous Pop Art references) and recent U.S. history (the chaotic fire and smoke of 9/11 ). Seen from afar, the individual renderings merge to resemble an imposing blue sky of heavenly proportions. The whole can be interpreted as "one mind" (a visual scatterbrain), says Davidson, a Seattle resident. By extension, the tiny fractions— configured in a roughly outlined avian shape and ranging in color from baby blue to dark chrome—can be innocent, smart, chaotic, and industrial. Take, for instance, the aluminum, tilelike canvas engraved with words "THIS IS NO CLOUD," calling to mind anything from a blue-collar machinist's oppression to the apocalypse. Despite the weight of these images, the artist claims she didn't intend any cultural commentary; she says the installation is just "a collection of impressions, associations, and intrusive thoughts that one might have while experiencing an ordinary moment in an ordinary day." Daydream is the inaugural exhibition at Gallery4Culture's new, larger, and more visible location in the Tashiro-Kaplan Building. 101 Prefontaine Pl., 206-296-7580, www.4culture.org. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. Ends Oct. 28.