Ava McDonough:
Master, Serene
Opening Saturday, December 13, 6 - 8 pm
12.26 is pleased to present Master, Serene, Los Angeles–based artist Ava McDonough’s first solo exhibition at the gallery’s Dallas location.
Stirred by the early twentieth-century poet Fernando Pessoa, McDonough presents a body of work oriented around her contemplatively ceremonious process of painting the physical and spiritual properties of nature.
Master, serene are
All hours
We waste, if in
The wasting them,
As in a jar,
We set flowers.
There are no sorrows
Nor joys either
In our life.
So let us learn,
Thoughtlessly wise,
Not to live it,
But to flow down it,
Tranquil, serene,
Letting children
Be our teachers
And our eyes be
Filled with Nature.
-Fernando Pessoa, December, 1914
Unlike traditional landscape painters, McDonough offers a perspective on nature at a microscopic level, implying a decontextualizing closeness. The artist’s natural subjects, whether a butterfly’s wing or a blade of grass, are so magnified that their structures ecstatically dissolve, leaving their context a blur of form and color.
Master, Serene is a visual dedication to McDonough’s specific yet improvised painterly process. When McDonough enters the studio, readying herself to paint, she shuts the blinds, isolating herself from the world, for painting is a solitary activity that she holds in great reverence.
Diligently, starting in one corner of the canvas, she proceeds methodically across the surface, forming rows of tiny, uniform, and partially overlapping brushstrokes that accumulate into a unified image and create a unique wave-like texture. There is no room for error or time to turn back as the paint quickly dries; each work pours forth as an improvised, high-stakes private performance.
For McDonough, intention in painting is essential and cultivated through meditative and ritualized acts. At the beginning of each session, she opens a case containing a silver flute; this small gesture signals to the studio her openness to the unfolding, and once she is done for the day, she closes the case, marking the completion of the practice and sealing the work that has been done.
The parable of “A New Flute” inspires this act—a story of a musician and his teacher that gives a lesson in passion, illustrating how devotion to technique can leave one stranded from creative imagination, yet through surrender, one may reach a form of spiritual transcendence. In the studio, McDonough doesn't often plan her compositions, but before beginning, she sets the intention that the painting she is about to create is an offering. Through this gesture, she accepts the outcome of her work.
Master, Serene highlights McDonough’s devoted attendance to her painting practice through the showcase of her sublime color fields and meticulous mark-making. May we all see, through her eyes, the intoxicating, dilated structures of the natural world in their tangible qualities and spiritual elements.
Ava McDonough (b. 1999, Charlottesville, VA) lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. She graduated with a BS in Environment and Sustainability Sciences from Cornell University, New York, NY, in 2021. McDonough has presented solo exhibitions with SHRINE, New York, NY (2025), and Lowell Ryan Projects, Los Angeles, CA (2023). She has also been featured in group exhibitions at White Columns, New York, NY (2025); SHRINE, Los Angeles, CA (2024); SHRINE, New York, NY (2024); and Guerrero Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (2024), among others.
Stirred by the early twentieth-century poet Fernando Pessoa, McDonough presents a body of work oriented around her contemplatively ceremonious process of painting the physical and spiritual properties of nature.
Master, serene are
All hours
We waste, if in
The wasting them,
As in a jar,
We set flowers.
There are no sorrows
Nor joys either
In our life.
So let us learn,
Thoughtlessly wise,
Not to live it,
But to flow down it,
Tranquil, serene,
Letting children
Be our teachers
And our eyes be
Filled with Nature.
-Fernando Pessoa, December, 1914
Unlike traditional landscape painters, McDonough offers a perspective on nature at a microscopic level, implying a decontextualizing closeness. The artist’s natural subjects, whether a butterfly’s wing or a blade of grass, are so magnified that their structures ecstatically dissolve, leaving their context a blur of form and color.
Master, Serene is a visual dedication to McDonough’s specific yet improvised painterly process. When McDonough enters the studio, readying herself to paint, she shuts the blinds, isolating herself from the world, for painting is a solitary activity that she holds in great reverence.
Diligently, starting in one corner of the canvas, she proceeds methodically across the surface, forming rows of tiny, uniform, and partially overlapping brushstrokes that accumulate into a unified image and create a unique wave-like texture. There is no room for error or time to turn back as the paint quickly dries; each work pours forth as an improvised, high-stakes private performance.
For McDonough, intention in painting is essential and cultivated through meditative and ritualized acts. At the beginning of each session, she opens a case containing a silver flute; this small gesture signals to the studio her openness to the unfolding, and once she is done for the day, she closes the case, marking the completion of the practice and sealing the work that has been done.
The parable of “A New Flute” inspires this act—a story of a musician and his teacher that gives a lesson in passion, illustrating how devotion to technique can leave one stranded from creative imagination, yet through surrender, one may reach a form of spiritual transcendence. In the studio, McDonough doesn't often plan her compositions, but before beginning, she sets the intention that the painting she is about to create is an offering. Through this gesture, she accepts the outcome of her work.
Master, Serene highlights McDonough’s devoted attendance to her painting practice through the showcase of her sublime color fields and meticulous mark-making. May we all see, through her eyes, the intoxicating, dilated structures of the natural world in their tangible qualities and spiritual elements.
Ava McDonough (b. 1999, Charlottesville, VA) lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. She graduated with a BS in Environment and Sustainability Sciences from Cornell University, New York, NY, in 2021. McDonough has presented solo exhibitions with SHRINE, New York, NY (2025), and Lowell Ryan Projects, Los Angeles, CA (2023). She has also been featured in group exhibitions at White Columns, New York, NY (2025); SHRINE, Los Angeles, CA (2024); SHRINE, New York, NY (2024); and Guerrero Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (2024), among others.