In the Ultimate I Dwell is an exhibition of portraits and figures by Mississippi-based artist Shuriya Davis. Nine large canvases depict figures enmeshed in their environments, emerging from swirling expanses of color and exuberant brushwork, at times indistinguishable from the paint itself. Like a lotus blooming from mud, Davis transforms the inanimate muck of painting into individuals expressing grief, suffering, compassion, and jubilation. Drawing on the historical tradition of artists like Bob Thompson and Willem de Kooning, Davis explores psychic and expressionist struggle within the canvas, informed by Thich Nhat Hanh's The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching and his experiences during the Vietnam War.
