Moira Holohan: Dits ••• & Dahs —

September 20 – December 28, 2024

Miami-based artist Moira Holohan’s solo-exhibition explores visual language through abstract imagery. “I have found a rhythm in my work that looks to the past and then interweaves the present in a both personal and contemporary context through drawing, printmaking, textile and video.” 

In Dits ••• and Dahs – – – Holohan is investigating her own graphic communication through pictures she creates in a range of media. In many of these compositions the artist is responding to the works of Robert Motherwell, who was a leading figure in the Abstract Expressionist movement. Motherwell’s established vocabulary of primordial ovoid shapes and atavistic lines and dashes is reflected in many of the works featured in this exhibition. Holohan also incorporates Morse code and states, “I see the code as a unique abstract language that could be generated with rhythmic patterns, whether from sound, light, or mark. This language can be compelling when delivering simple, repeatable messages, like SOS, that will grab people’s attention almost immediately and mimic the urgency of Motherwell’s Elegy series.” Interestingly, Samuel Morse, the creator of Morse Code, was also a painter.  

Holohan’s use of color is restrained in this series. She favors black, white, and chroma green, another nod to Motherwell. The mark making and “brushstrokes”, whether screen-printed or woven, are urgent and energetic. The flipbook animation video, Dit & Dah, complements the body of work by showing the rhythm and vigor that infuses Holohan’s artwork. “In the video work I am repeating a simple movement with my body to resemble dots and dashes. The exploration of using Morse code in this series began in video format. Through a simple synchronous movement of the body that contorts into a dot and a line — a message can be sent.”