Mai Snow’s eponymous exhibit at Northern-Southern feels fitting for the turn of the season in Texas. As Austin begins to announce the start of autumn with days that reach highs of only 93 degrees Fahrenheit, it seems timely to visit a show that captures liminality.
Installation view of “Mai Snow” at Northern-Southern. Photo: Northern-Southern
At first glance, Snow’s debut solo show is delightfully simple, utilizing recognizable everyday symbols and vivid colors. I initially read it as a collection of absurd still life paintings, unique with palettes and sharpness reminiscent of old cartoons like “The Simpsons” or “Hey Arnold.” A slow walk-through and more thorough examination of the various pieces soon unveiled a depth, and the motifs and hues that initially seemed straightforward were swarming with complexity.
Snow’s own background is a composite of distinctive parts. A trans nonbinary artist originally hailing from Polevskoy, Russia, they immigrated to the US at the age of thirteen. After receiving an education in painting, which included a BFA from Maine College of Art and an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin, they became a beloved fixture of the art scene in Austin. In addition to working as an artist, art handler, and installer, the involvement that cemented their reputation in town is their role as the co-founder of shedshows, a DIY gallery space held in the shed next to their house in North Campus.
Snow currently lives and creates between Austin and their property in Valentine, a tiny town in West Texas with a population under 100. The combination of their residences and experiences informs the exhibit which, in a deeply metaphorical manner, explores concepts like place, identity, and form. With warmth, the show depicts the revelations, discomfort, and loneliness that accompany life on the fringe.
Installation view of “Mai Snow” at Northern-Southern. Photo: Northern-Southern.
Symbolism is the fabric of this show, with Snow leaving us to discover meaning in the recurrent emblems. Most notably, there are socks and chairs. Sometimes the chairs are wearing socks. What’s apparent is a constant reference to the body even if the body is not present. Socks clothe us and help us express our identity and even our beliefs. Chairs hold us and can be understood as a body of their own– utilitarian and neutral. The various possible interpretations encourage a figurative way of looking at the body, its comfort, and its burdens.
Despite their own identity which is at the moment highly politicized, Snow’s consideration of the body is not obviously political. Instead, their observations come off as a curious and amusing look at the absurdities of our body parts, clothes, and how we see ourselves. Political gestures are there, but camouflaged.
Mai Snow, “Arches,” Photo: Alexander Boeschenstein
Arches, for example, presents ten generic men’s socks painted on a long narrow canvas. Each looks slightly different, and one is covered by scribbles. Looming at the bottom of the image is a sort of black hole, also filled with scribbles. Whatever could be read as frustrating or ominous in this scene is partially undone by the joyful bright yellow background, becoming paler as your eyes go down.
Hidden easter eggs and intentional eccentricities become more apparent with a closer look. Even the compulsion of the scribbles belies control and precision. Each outline and shape is tended to carefully and expertly polished, yet more playful with textures and surfaces. The saturated colors shown in a gradient are present in nearly every painting, perhaps emphasizing the idea of a spectrum that everything falls in and displaying colors that seem to reference pride flags.
Mai Snow, “Rose Sun,” Photo: Alexander Boeschenstein
Snow also wields several aesthetic approaches to communicate feelings. Most commonly, there’s the style that feels like an HD take on fauvism, but differentiations can be exemplified by the contrast between the impressionistic and obscure Rose Sun that indicates pleasure and the direct and bold Drama Chairs that indicates something akin to a teenage crisis of self.
Mai Snow, “Reverie,” Photo: Alexander Boeschenstein
One painting, Reverie (which in French means a pleasant daydream), brings us to a happy conclusion, showing a person wearing socks while sitting on a chair. It denotes comfort in one’s body and place– a sort of triumph, with a portion of the painting enclosed by the human legs showing cheery doodles of flowers and the sun.
The reliance on symbolism renders a mysterious and poetic exhibition, examining familiar sentiments, objects, and notions to result in an unpredictable narrative. Each piece combines artistic maturity with childlike sweetness, beguiling us with an adorable first impression that follows with a slow settling of aches. Snow is a storyteller for the undefined, weaving together unusual visions and sensations to present overlooked ways of seeing.
Mai Snow is on view at Northern-Southern through October 5.
