“All is One” (2025), acrylic on canvas, 48 x 48 inches. All images courtesy the artist and Lehmann Maupin, New York, Seoul, and London, shared with permission In Ethereal Paintings, Calida Rawles Plunges into the Dark Depths of Water Art Grace Ebert SharePinEmail BookmarkIn This Time Before Tomorrow, Calida Rawles diverges from the familiar faces—those of her daughters and chosen companions—that characterized her most recent body of work. In the lineage of scholars like Christina Sharpe and Saidiya Hartman, the artist considers water to be a charged site and vessel for memory. “Refraction” (2025), acrylic on canvas, 24 x 30 x 2 inchesMixing her hyperrealistic style with surreal distortions, Rawles always begins with a photo session before turning to the canvas. “A Balance of Dawn” (2025), acrylic on canvas, 24 x 30 x 2 inches“When Time Carries” (2025), acrylic on canvas, 72 x 96 inches“Through Fury and Beyond Reason” (2025), acrylic on canvas, 48 x 48 x 2 inches“Musing” (2025), acrylic on canvas, 48 x 60 x 2 inchesInstallation view of ‘This Time Before Tomorrow.’ Photo by Lucy Dawkins