In Ash and Algae, Gina Keatley offers a visceral exploration of opposing forces—destruction and regeneration, pressure and bloom, collapse and ascent. This six-work series (comprising seven total canvases) contemplates resilience not as survival, but as transformation. Drawing from geologic and oceanic forms—volcanic fields, mineral scars, and reef emergence—Keatley composes a visual language rooted in elemental tension.
Grounded in a palette of mineral black and saturated algae green, the works evoke scorched terrains overtaken by life. Layers of acrylic accumulate like sediment or cooled magma, scraped and shifted to reveal histories beneath. Her surfaces are not decorative—they’re durational, holding the record of friction and release.
At the core is Resurge Seam, a monumental diptych that establishes the conceptual and emotional tone of the series. One panel asserts with vibrant momentum; the other recesses in quiet erosion. Their dialogue feels tectonic—simultaneously split and stitched—mapping the moment when fracture becomes evolution.
Each accompanying piece reflects a different expression of resilience through material and motion:
- Seepform channels the vertical movement of growth—like minerals or color wicking upward through stone.
- Spores pulses with latent energy, its pitted surface suggesting micro-bursts of life asserting themselves.
- Tide captures horizontal drift and return, echoing the wash of current and sediment.
- Abyss Thread offers a haunting density—darker, quieter—where emergence flickers just below.
- Emergent Vein feels alive with motion, a slanted vein of green coursing through the dark, a lifeline in retreating ash.
Throughout the series, Keatley resists clean resolution. These are not fixed compositions but living terrains—shifting, scarred, evolving. No canvas seeks symmetry; instead, each work allows imbalance, erosion, and residue to serve as structure. They offer no illusion of finality—only continuation.
Ash and Algae is not a depiction of the natural world, but an echo of its deep rhythms: what decays, what persists, what dares to begin again. It is a meditation on quiet force and the unseen systems through which life reclaims the burnt.
Ash and Algae Series
Resurge Seam (Diptych)
Year of Creation: 2025
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 48 inches x 48 inches each (96 inches x 48 inches combined)
Sale Price: $8,600 USD
Edition Type: Unique, 1 of 1
Current Location: New York, NY, USA
Seepform
Year of Creation: 2025
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 48 inches x 36 inches
Sale Price: $6,200 USD
Edition Type: Unique, 1 of 1
Current Location: New York, NY, USA
Spores
Year of Creation: 2025
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 48 inches x 36 inches
Sale Price: $6,200 USD
Edition Type: Unique, 1 of 1
Current Location: New York, NY, USA
Tide
Year of Creation: 2025
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 48 inches x 36 inches
Sale Price: $6,200 USD
Edition Type: Unique, 1 of 1
Current Location: New York, NY, USA
Abyss Thread
Year of Creation: 2025
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 48 inches x 36 inches
Sale Price: $6,200 USD
Edition Type: Unique, 1 of 1
Current Location: New York, NY, USA
Emergent Vein
Year of Creation: 2025
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 48 inches x 36 inches
Sale Price: $6,200 USD
Edition Type: Unique, 1 of 1
Current Location: New York, NY, USA