Red Arrow Gallery is pleased to present Sky Mirror, a solo exhibition of new paintings by Margaret R. Thompson. In this latest collection of work, Thompson reflects on her experiences outside on the land over the past year. Traveling through the Balearic islands, the mountains of Colorado, and the diverse landscapes of New Mexico—from the sculpted cliffs of the Bisti Badlands to the vibrant scenery of Taos Valley—Thompson aims to capture the essence of each environment and an identity that reflects the power of the earth.

In her work, Thompson expresses the profound stillness and beauty found in wild places, where boundaries between the self and the world begin to dissolve. This moment of dissolving is the Sky Mirror, where the ego falls to the side and is replaced by something cosmic and vast.

The paintings in this series reflect a duality, a symmetry. Sister elements – mustangs, falcons, cloud patterns – mirror each other. This infinite call and response echoes throughout, offering a communion and a retreat from aloneness. While the paintings embrace what lies beyond, they are also grounded in small symbols of human life: peaches, hollyhocks, matches, a bedside candlestick, a flicker feather, a pearl necklace. All of these are presented as offerings to the viewer, calling them into the paintings in hopes that they, too, will experience the world that lives just beyond our limits.

Working closely to the Earth in the New Mexican desert and often painting outside, Thompson infuses her oil paints with wax, sand, soil, mica, ash, spices, and plant oils to bring the essence of the land into her work. The raw materials she collects and rubs into her paintings are an integral part of narratives that seek to bridge the gap between the self, our environment, and other life forms.

Akin to Leonora Carrington of the Surrealist movement who explored themes of identity and the subconscious in her paintings, Thompson works in symbol and allegory to find deeper meaning. Also inspired by the desert transcendentalist Agnes Pelton and mystic Hilma af Klint, Thompson investigates the spiritual and metaphysical dimensions of existence, working through themes of transcendence, inner consciousness, and the interconnectedness of life with abstract forms and vibrant colors.