Merging sharp photo-realism with poetic abstraction, Calida Rawles paints African-American women and men submerged in glistening water; bodies are swarmed by a flurry of bubbles, ripples, and refracted light. For Rawles, water is a spiritually healing element for all people – yet she recognizes its historical connotations to racial exclusion and cultural fears. She uses the complicated duality of water as a platform to address identity politics while reimagining her subjects beyond cultural tropes. At times, her work alludes to current events, even making topographical maps of cities where acts of racially targeted violence have occurred. In other moments, her works are purely celebratory of the resilience, strength, and beauty of African American culture. Calida Rawles (b. 1976, Wilmington. DE, lives and works in Los Angeles, CA) received a B.A. at Spelman College, Atlanta, GA and an M.A. at New York University. She has held solo exhibitions at Various Small Fires, Los Angeles, CA and Frieze New York, NY; Fullerton College Art Gallery, CA; LACMA Inglewood Art + Film Lab, CA; the San Francisco Arts Commission, CA; Walter Maciel Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; Papillon Art, Los Angeles, CA; and Rush Arts Gallery, New York, NY. Rawles is represented by Various Small Fires, Los Angeles, CA / Seoul, KR.