Thomias Radin 2 dimensions for one reality, 2025

2 dimensions for one reality, in format, color, and composition, stands in a delicate balance of stillness and movement. Composed to function both as a singular panel and right half of a diptych (with 4 solo for a bittersweet symphony), the paining is part of a group of works by the artist that converge on the motif of Icarus.

Executed in oil on wooden panel, the painting is split into the depiction of a wide sea drawn towards a distant horizon and a laminar form in tarnished brown bending across the pictorial space. Overcome by ambivalence, the calligraphy-esque form reads as both sign and nothing, representing some sort of tabula rasa.

Throughout Radin's work, postcolonial themes are central, as one sees in this painting. While the depiction of the ocean in Radin’s practice stands in the wake of racial slavery, the tabula rasa that cuts across the foaming waves signals the underbelly of History. What has been called “subterranean history” remains unwritten, and yet, remains––sedimented in the choreographed gestures handed down by the enslaved and their descendants. If nowhere else, subterranean history becomes animated in Black avant-garde movements, and the rhythms of hip hop, Gwo Ka, and Capoeira, that have long been an integral part of the artist’s practice.