Point of Hue opened Saturday, November 7, at Ashton Gallery in San Diego's North Park, and my painting Conformity is in it. This 12th annual national juried show, selected by Daniel Foster, explores how color shapes mood, emotion, and storytelling. In Conformity, color is the story.
A friend was at the opening reception and captured the night: (coming soon)
The piece
It started with a photo of ants linking their bodies into a bridge, and I saw the ant in the middle being pulled apart. The piece is about the pressure, at school, at work, or among friends, to fit one mold. Identical grey ants pull apart a single orange ant that is still fighting to keep its identity.
the hue
Every color in Conformity was chosen to carry a feeling. Here's the key:
Grey: The "conformed" ants; desaturation = the loss of originality, exuberance, and soul
Purple: The spiraling background; the fear of losing yourself
Red and blue tones: Mixed into the purple; anger and sadness at feeling trapped and pulled apart
Orange: The main ant; anxiety, and the vigor to fight back
Yellow: Highlights on the main ant; hope, pushing back against the despair of the purple
Green: Cardboard leaves; life, and creativity growing through a connection to nature
Grey as absence. The conformed ants aren't unsettling because of a dark color; they're unsettling because they have none. Draining their color was the most direct way to show what conformity takes.
The main ant is the only figure in orange and yellow, and the only one with a highlight in its eye: a small light that says it still has its soul.
See it in person
Ashton Gallery at Art on 30th 4434 30th St., San Diego, CA 92116 On view through December 4, 2026. Thank you to Ashton Gallery, juror Daniel Foster, and my friend for capturing the opening.
