(b. 1979 Norwalk, CT) Palma received an MFA from Yale University, New Haven, CT, and a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI. Her work has been included in exhibitions throughout New York including Psychonautic Traces, her most recent solo show at Davidson Gallery and Ninth Street Women: 70 Years of Women in Abstraction. Her work has been acquired by the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris, NY Presbyterian Hospital, along with many other collections. She is on the board of directors at Black Ball Projects, a non-profit arts organization supporting underexposed contemporary artists in New York City. Palma lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.
Artist Statement:
"Hard-edged, optical paintings simulate the movement of light and form through a virtual space. I am Influenced by the minimalist concepts and color theories of 1960s modernism, along with the optical strategies and phenomenological ideas associated with impressionism. Juxtaposing concepts of deep space & flatness, illusion & objecthood, minimalism & maximalism, the handmade & machined; the paintings emerge as charged futuristic spaces for experience and reflection.
I collect visual moments of intrigue from my everyday life. The way light radiates through a series of graffitied fences. The layered patterning of leaves when looking up from under a tree. Following the fluorescent orange mesh of a construction site as it wraps the skeleton of a new building. Contemplating the vastness of the universe while gazing into a clear night sky. The faces found in inanimate objects on my daily walks to the studio. The feeling of being grounded on earth when looking out past the horizon from the shore. I am not looking to depict a specific place but rather to simulate my inherent experience."