Lifelines - Solo Exhibition

LIFELINES

White Rabbit Galleries is pleased to announce its next solo exhibition, Lifelines by Maria McDonald!

About the Artist:

Maria McDonald is an artist who lives in Massillon, Ohio. She has been creating art her

entire life and received her BFA from Kent State University in 2023. Her first solo show

was at the Massillon Museum and she has shown her work in group exhibits in Kent

and Canton. She is an adjunct instructor at Walsh University. She finds inspiration from

nature, light, love, connection, and lineage. She finds patterns in nature and abstracts

them on the canvas to portray what she is feeling. Her work is rooted in being present in

the moment.

Artist Statement:

In this body of work I explore patterns that have been passed down through

family lineage by abstracting found patterns in nature, color, and light. In the paintings I

explore the wounds that have taken years for me to locate, examine, and begin healing

by using patterns from stones, depictions of flowers, and glimmers of light observed in

nature.

As I created this body of work I was conscious of whether I was present in the

moment and in my body or if I felt I was trying to escape my body, as well as any

emotion that came up. The work explores the time and presence it takes to locate

emotional wounds and feel them to begin healing. I translated the feelings and emotions

that came up while painting into abstract forms using organic lines and color gradients.

The colors I chose in some represent the intensity of the emotions and some represent

the dullness that comes from numbing the pain.

The lines in the work represent the lifelines that connect one another through

shared trauma. It has been found that trauma is stored in the body and is passed down

from generation to generation. The patterns and trauma from our ancestors are coded

in our DNA. Positive traits are passed down as well. Through my work I identify and

transmute the familial patterns that have been passed down through my lineage for

generations and invite the viewer to pause and find presence in their own body and see

what arises.

On display from October 23-November 21.

Opening Reception:  October 23rd, 2026 // 5pm-7pm

Free Admission.  Light refreshments.

White Rabbit Galleries is a non-profit 501(c)(3) community art center located at 571 W. Tuscarawas Ave, in Barberton, Ohio.  Admission to our art galleries are always free. Join us for public hours -  Th-Fr 4pm-7pm and Sat 11am-7pm.