Erica Mao: Wading Through Time presents new paintings and ceramic sculptures in which Mao's ghostly "protagonists" dissolve into increasingly monochromatic environments — vivid red, deep blue, sea green — navigating frenetic, dreamlike terrains. More gestural and atmospheric than her earlier work, the paintings incorporate layers of muslin into the canvas, disrupting the surface with texture and spatial complexity. A multi-level ceramic installation translates this painted world into roofless shack-like structures bearing traces of the protagonists across their glazed surfaces. Together the works use the metaphor of wading — slow, deliberate movement through memory and experience — to explore shelter, survival, and the search for connection.
