The Embracing Gaze of Debra Lott- Undermain

By Nancy BarrContributing Writer

Have you noticed? Hugs are back. 

Yes, we may be wearing masks on occasion or even daily, but a worldwide pandemic taught us that life lived at 6 feet of distance is not worth living, and that human beings require daily hugs — many in fact, for good health. Whether it means holding someone who is going through difficulty or sharing eye contact and a greeting with a stranger, by now many of us have received the memo and accepted the brief. We sense that humanity is in danger and that one way to save ourselves is through care for each other.

With “Embrace,” her exhibit of new paintings at Pyro Gallery in Louisville, Debra Lott intends to give respite from the unending stream of stressful news and trauma-filled events we are witnessing in our lives and on our screens. To her show’s title, she has

appended a quotation of the Austrian-born early 20^th-century existentialist philosopher Martin Buber: “The World is not comprehensible, but it is embraceable through the embracing of one of its beings.” While Lott had already named the exhibit when she encountered Buber’s words, they perfectly describe what she is about in this series of 9 luminous oil paintings. Lott’s response as an artist to the “anxiety and exhaustion” occasioned by even secondhand experience of the suffering, violence, and instability of our world is this enfolding gesture. She states, “I felt compelled to create an exhibition centered on comfort and compassion. Through figurative painting, I seek to offer a quiet refuge that invites reflection and connection.”

These canvases range from chiaroscuro to an almost overexposed bright wash, and Lott’s mastery of her medium shows in the beauty and grace of the forms she paints as well as their emotive pull. Debra renders the stillness and presence of her female subjects, inviting us to pause and breathe along with them. Whether as hands gently extended, figures cradling and leaning on each other, or in the form of an earthly goddess sitting with fox kits, the peace that Lott proposes is embodied and entwined. We may be solitary, but we are not alone in the world if we stay in touch with each other. ...click here for the rest of the article